Opinion
Case No.: 3:01 CV 7386
August 12, 2002
ORDER
Plaintiff seeks to bring a claim against Sheriff Michael Hetzel for alleged violations of plaintiff's constitutional rights while plaintiff was incarcerated at Wyandot County Jail. Pending is defendant Michael Hetzel's motion for summary judgment. For the following reasons, the motion shall be granted.
Plaintiff's complaint previously was dismissed without prejudice pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1997e for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Plaintiff then brought a motion for reconsideration in which he alleged that the Wyandot County Jail had no administrative remedies at the time of the alleged incidents. That motion was granted, and the case was reinstated. Doc. 9.
Defendant Hetzel has filed a motion for summary judgment to which he has attached both an affidavit stating that there were administrative remedies available at the time of the alleged incident and a copy of the "Inmate Grievance Procedure." Plaintiff has not supplemented his claim that no such policy existed with any evidence beyond his own self-serving affidavit stating that either the policy did not exist or he was denied access to it.
Numerous courts have declared that "self-serving affidavits without factual support in the record will not defeat a motion for summary judgment." Albiero v. City of Kankakee, 246 F.3d 927, 933 (7th Cir. 2001) (citation omitted); see also Lujan v. Nat'l Wildlife Fed'n, 497 U.S. 871, 888 (1990); Oates v. Englund, No. 99-1187, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 24645, at *3 (10th Cir. 1999); Syvongxay v. Henderson, 147 F. Supp.2d 854, 859 (N.D. Ohio 2001); Wolfe v. Village of Brice, 37 F. Supp.2d 1021, 1026 (S.D.Ohio 1999) ("Self-serving affidavits, alone, are not enough to create an issue of fact sufficient to survive summary judgment.") (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251 (1986); Copeland v. Machulis, 57 F.3d 476, 479 (6th Cir. 1995)). Because plaintiff has not supplemented his claims with any evidence other than his own self-serving affidavit, he cannot defeat a motion for summary judgment.
It is, therefore,
ORDERED THAT Defendant's motion for summary judgment be, and hereby is, granted.
So ordered.