Opinion ID: 3179594
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Claim Against Mr. Hartley

Text: Mr. Gandy argues the district court erred by dismissing his claim against Mr. Hartley because the allegations in the amended complaint failed to show that he personally participated in having Mr. Gandy transferred to another prison. We discern no error. Although a prisoner does not have a constitutional right to remain at a particular prison, prison officials do not have “unbridled discretion to transfer inmates in retaliation for exercising their constitutional rights.” Frazier v. Dubois, 922 F.2d 560, 561-62 (10th Cir. 1990). To establish a § 1983 claim based on supervisor liability, a plaintiff must show an “affirmative link” between the supervisor and the unconstitutional acts of his or her subordinates. Serna v. Colo. Dep’t of Corr., 455 F.3d 1146, 1151 (10th Cir. 2006). “[T]he supervisor must be personally involved in the constitutional violation, and a sufficient causal connection must exist between the supervisor and the constitutional violation.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). 8 Mr. Gandy attempts to connect Mr. Hartley’s conduct to his transfer in two ways. First, according to the amended complaint, after Mr. Barber threatened to remove him from the apprenticeship program, Mr. Gandy wrote to the Canadian consulate that he feared he might be retaliated against if he filed a grievance. The complaint states that his letter prompted the consulate to send Mr. Hartley an official letter informing him that Mr. Gandy should not be retaliated against for exercising his right to file a grievance. However, even assuming Mr. Hartley received such a letter and that Mr. Gandy’s transfer was retaliatory, neither fact establishes that Mr. Hartley was personally involved in the transfer. Second, Mr. Gandy’s allegation that Mr. Hartley had, in the past, made statements expressing his desire to have Mr. Gandy transferred is also unavailing. A prisoner claiming retaliation must “allege specific facts showing retaliation because of the exercise of the prisoner’s constitutional rights.” Frazier, 922 F.2d at 562 n.1. Even assuming the allegation is true, statements made before Mr. Gandy filed his grievance cannot be used to show that the filing of the grievance was the “but for” cause of any action by Mr. Hartley. See Peterson v. Shanks, 149 F.3d 1140, 1144 (10th Cir. 1998) (concluding that allegations of retaliation fail where the plaintiff does not show that a defendant’s alleged retaliatory motive was the “but for” cause of his or her actions).