CASE NOTES
Civil Rights Action Against Correctional Institute Dismissed Court addresses vicarious liability, breach of contract, and professional negligence.
Ziegler v. Correct Care Systems, 2018 WL 1470786 (M.D. Pa., 2018) Matthew R. Shindell In this case, the plaintiff instituted a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against a correctional institute and alleged it was deliberately indifferent to his medical needs. Specifically, it was alleged a physician working for a health care group retained by the institute negligently failed to monitor the plaintiff’s heart. Months after he requested the use of a heart monitor, he presented to the medical department with complaints of chest pain and difficulty breathing. He was subsequently transported to an outside hospital and underwent a procedure to replace his cardiac stents. The correctional institute filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s claims, which sound in vicarious liability, breach of contract, and professional negligence, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The court noted the correctional facility cannot be found vicariously liable for a private corporation such as the health care group for negligent medical treatment unless there was a policy or custom that caused constitutional deprivations. The motion to dismiss any claims related to the vicarious liability of the correctional institute was granted because the plaintiff failed to allege any improper policies or procedures were related to his injuries. The correctional institute argued the breach of contract action should be dismissed because the plaintiff was not in privity to the contract at issue and therefore had no standing. A plaintiff does have standing for such an action if he is a third-party beneficiary of the contract. Both parties must express an intention to benefit the third party to enable him to institute a breach of contract action. The plaintiff’s claim was dismissed because the contract was silent in this regard.
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Finally, the court was asked to dismiss the professional negligence claim because the plaintiff failed to file a certificate of merit in a timely manner. This document must be filed 60 days after the complaint is filed, and must state that an appropriate professional believes there is a reasonable probability that the defendant’s actions fell below the standard of care. Here, the plaintiff never filed a certificate of merit nor sought an extension to do so. Hence, this claim was dismissed. IMPACT: To bring forth a vicarious liability claim against a correctional facility under Section 1983 for the negligence of a health care provider, a plaintiff must prove his injuries are related to improper policies and procedures. Furthermore, a third party may not bring forth a breach of contract action against a correctional facility unless he is privy to the agreement or it has express language permitting such an action. Finally, a plaintiff’s professional liability claim will be dismissed for failure to file a certificate of merit 60 days after the complaint is filed.