Opinion
9:18-CV-1333 (TJM/ATB)
03-17-2022
NYJEE L. BOYD, Plaintiff, v. JOHN DOE #1, et al., Defendants.
DECISION & ORDER
Thomas J. McAvoy, Senior, U.S. District Judge
The Court referred this Complaint to Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter for a Report-Recommendation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Local Rule 72.3(c). Plaintif f alleges that Defendants, correction officers and officials at Clinton Correctional Facility, an institution operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (“DOCCS”), violated his constitutional rights in a variety of ways, including by assaulting him and by retaliating against him for exercising his First Amendment rights. Judge Baxter's Report-Recommendation addresses Defendants' motion for summary judgment and Plaintiff's motion for leave to amend his Complaint..
Judge Baxter's Report-Recommendation, dkt. # 6, issued on November 30, 2021, recommends that the Court grant Defendants' motion for summary judgment in part and deny that motion in part. Judge Baxter concludes that Plaintiff met the statutory requirement to exhaust his administrative remedies on some claims and failed to exhaust on others. Summary judgment is appropriate on the unexhausted claims, he finds. Judge Baxter also concludes than an evidentiary hearing is necessary to resolve whether Plaintiff exhausted a small number of his claims. Judge Baxter further finds that no evidence exists to support some of Plaintiff's exhausted claims, and recommends summary judgment on them. Judge Baxter also finds that Plaintiff's attempt to amend his Second Amended Complaint is not timely and futile in any case. He recommends that the Court deny that motion. Finally, Judge Baxter recommends dismissal of Plaintiff's claims against the remaining unnamed Doe defendants. Judge Baxter finds that Plaintiff did not diligently pursue their identities and did not seek to include those individuals in a timely fashion.
No party objected to the Report-Recommendation. The time for such objections has passed. After examining the record, this Court has determined that the Report-Recommendation is not subject to attack for plain error or manifest injustice and the Court will accept and adopt the Report-Recommendation for the reasons stated therein.
Accordingly, The Report-Recommendation of Judge Baxter, dkt. # 107, is hereby ACCEPTED and ADOPTED. Defendants' motion for summary judgment, dkt. # 88, is hereby GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, as follows:
1. The motion is DENIED with respect to:
a. Plaintiff's Eighth Amendment claim against Defendant Baer based on the alleged events that occurred on March 29, 2018;
b. Plaintiff's Eighth Amendment claim against Defendant Hunt based on
the alleged events that occurred on April 6, 2018;
c. Plaintiffs First and Eighth Amendment claims against Defendant Baer based on the alleged events that occurred on April 17, 2018;
d. Plaintiffs First Amendment claim against Defendant Young based on the alleged events that occurred on April 17, 2018;
2. Defendants' motion for summary judgment is hereby GRANTED in all other respects;
3. The Court will schedule an evidentiary hearing on the issue of exhaustion of administrative remedies with respect to:
a. Plaintiffs First and Eighth Amendment claims against Defendant Baer based on the alleged events that occurred on April 17, 2018; and
b. Plaintiffs First Amendment claim against Defendant Young based on the alleged events that occurred on April 17, 2018.
Plaintiffs motion to amend, dkt. # 104, is hereby DENIED. Any claims against any remaining unidentified Doe defendants are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE for failure to diligently prosecute.
IT IS SO ORDERED.