McGrath v. Williams

Full title: JOHN T. MCGRATH, SR. v. SHERIFF WYDETTE WILLIAMS, ET AL.

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA MONROE DIVISION

Date published: Oct 26, 2016

CIVIL ACTION NO. 15-0578 Section P (W.D. La. Oct. 26, 2016)

Opinion

CIVIL ACTION NO. 15-0578 Section P

10-26-2016

JOHN T. MCGRATH, SR. v. SHERIFF WYDETTE WILLIAMS, ET AL.

JUDGE ROBERT G. JAMES

MAG. JUDGE KAREN L. HAYES

RULING

Pending before the Court is a Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 27] filed by Defendants East Carroll Parish Sheriff Wydette Williams, Warden Johnny Hedgeman, and Nurse Leana. Magistrate Judge Karen L. Hayes issued a Report and Recommendation [Doc. No. 32] in which she recommended that the Court grant the motion and dismiss the claims against these Defendants without prejudice based on Plaintiff's failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. She further recommended that the Court dismiss the claims against the remaining Defendant, Charles Liberia, for the same reason.

Plaintiff filed objections to the Report and Recommendation, and Defendants filed a response to the objections. [Doc. Nos. 34 & 35].

Having reviewed the entire record in this matter, the Court finds that Magistrate Judge Hayes has correctly stated and applied the law, and the Court hereby ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation. To the extent that Plaintiff alleges that he did, in fact, submit grievances at all three steps of the grievance procedure, he has failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact for trial. First, Plaintiff has made only allegations and failed to provide the Court with a sworn declaration or affidavit. Second, even if he had properly filed a declaration or affidavit, his allegations are inconsistent with his other statements and evidence provided in this case. Plaintiff admitted in his Complaint that he "submitted two Grievance Forms to the facility, Step 1; however facility will not respond." [Doc. No. 1]. Even viewing this evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, as Magistrate Judge Hayes did, at best, Plaintiff may have completed two steps of the grievance procedure. There is no evidence that he completed the third step. Finally, Plaintiff urged the Court to review the record to confirm that he completed all three steps, but there is no such confirmation in the record. Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the Report and Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Hayes and for these additional reasons, the Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED, and the claims against all Defendants are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

MONROE, LOUISIANA, this 26^th day of October, 2016.

/s/ _________

ROBERT G. JAMES

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE