Opinion ID: 6349516
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Claims Against Defendant Allen

Text: Charron’s claims against defendant Allen were limited to Allen’s actions as food services manager regarding Charron’s physician-prescribed medical diets. The pro se Complaint included eighty-eight numbered paragraphs covering multiple medical treatment issues that included the following diet-related allegations. As early as 2002, NECC medical staff prescribed a “Double Bland” medical diet to mitigate Charron’s esophageal diseases. This diet was periodically renewed until July 2015, when Dr. Cabrera, a non-defendant, changed the Double Bland to a “Double Renal” diet because of Charron’s chronic kidney disease, recovery from surgical removal of his cancerous right kidney, and malfunctioning left kidney. In June 2015, Allen and his food service staff allegedly began giving Charron food not allowed under the Double Bland diet. Charron complained and in late July, Allen’s wife, a Corizon nurse, “canceled” Charron’s new Renal Diet. When Charron filed an Informal Resolution Request (IRR) against Allen and his wife under NECC’s grievance procedures, claiming retaliation for Charron’s previous filing challenging Allen’s interference with the Double Bland diet, Allen resumed the Renal Diet. But he stopped it again in November after Charron filed a grievance appeal regarding his retaliation charge. In August 2016, Allen and another Corizon nurse again stopped the Renal Diet until Dr. Rhodes ordered it resumed. Charron filed additional IRRs about not getting his doctor-ordered Renal Diet in August 2016 and July 2017. 1 Defendant Paniagua filed a separate summary judgment motion which the district court granted for the same reason. Charron did not respond to Paniagua’s motion and does not appeal this ruling. Thus, defendant Allen is the only appellee and only claims against Allen are at issue. -3- Charron was again not provided his Renal Diet in April 2018. The Complaint alleged that, on April 2, 2018, a food service defendant stopped Charron, said that Allen and Dr. Paniagua had stopped his Diet tray, and told him, “file on that.” He filed this action on May 7 asserting, as to defendant Allen, an Eighth Amendment claim for deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, and a First Amendment retaliation claim for denying Charron his diet in response to grievance filings. The summary judgment record established that Dr. Jerry Lovelace, who is not a defendant in this action, ordered that Charron’s Renal Diet be discontinued on March 29, 2018.