Opinion ID: 73392
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: conclusion

Text: Having determined that the diligence-discovery rule applies in this case, the disposition of the government's motion for summary judgement depends on whether Mrs. Diaz exercised reasonable diligence after being confronted with the news of her husband's suicide. More specifically, the date of accrual will be either the date that she obtained actual knowledge of the government's medical and psychological treatment of her husband or the date that a person in her situation and exercising reasonable diligence should have known that he was treated. Suicides, regrettably, do take place in prisons. Mere knowledge of such a suicide, without any indication of medical treatment beforehand, is clearly not enough to put a plaintiff on notice that medical malpractice may have occurred. Because the district court granted summary judgement using the incorrect rule of accrual, it did not reach the issue of when Mrs. Diaz should have known that her husband was evaluated and treated by psychological services.2 We therefore VACATE the district court's order and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. 2 In a footnote in its Order Granting Summary Judgement, the district court noted: Although the Court does not reach this issue, the Defendant has presented persuasive argument that the Plaintiffs [sic] cause of action should accrue on March 25, 1994, the day after Alejandro Diaz committed suicide. Because of the nature of the death and the Corrections Center's customary practice of providing all inmates with medical treatment, the Plaintiff had constructive notice that Alejandro Diaz might have received treatment and, therefore, the Plaintiff should have exercised reasonable diligence at that time to determine whether Alejandro Pena [sic] received mental health treatment prior to his unfortunate death. References to famous baseball players aside (Alejandro Pena was a pitcher for Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Boston and Miami during the time period relevant to this case and was in no way implicated in the litigation), we are unable to find any evidence in the record that would indicate that Mrs. Diaz had notice of any alleged customary practices at MCC, therefore we fail to see how she could be charged, as a matter of law, with constructive knowledge that her husband received psychological treatment based solely on those customary practices and the fact that her husband committed suicide. The appropriate inquiry is into when a reasonably diligent person in Mrs. Diaz's situation would have been put on notice that the government gave her husband psychological treatment shortly before his suicide. While performing this inquiry, the court must keep in mind that Mrs. Diaz is the non-moving party in a motion for summary judgement. As such, reasonable inferences must be drawn in her favor, not against her. In order for the government to prevail on summary judgement the court must find that any person in Mrs. Diaz's position and exercising reasonable diligence would have discovered the government's psychological treatment of her husband within three weeks of his death, which is the period of time beyond the second anniversry of his death that she filed the claim.