MYERS v. GOODIN et al

1
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
NEW ALBANY DIVISION
TYSON MYERS, 	)
)
Plaintiff, 	)
)
v. 	) 	Case No. 4:23-cv-00182-TWP-KMB
)
ROY WASHINGTON NP, 	)
DENISE EDEN Nurse, 	)
ADVANCED CORRECTIONAL
HEALTHCARE,
)
)
)
Defendants. 	)
ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
AND DIRECTING ENTRY OF FINAL JUDGMENT
This matter is before the Court on a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants
Roy 	Washington 	NP, 	Denise 	Eden 	and 	Advance 	Correctional 	Healthcare 	(collectively
"Defendants"). ((Dkt. 57). Plaintiff Tyson Myers ("Mr. Myers") filed this action contending that
his constitutional rights were violated while he was incarcerated at the Scott County Jail ("the
Jail"), when he was denied proper medical care. Defendants argue that Mr. Myers failed to exhaust
his available administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA")
before filing this lawsuit. For the reasons explained below, the motion for summary judgment, is
granted and the action is dismissed without prejudice.
I. 	SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD
A motion for summary judgment asks the Court to find that a trial is unnecessary because
there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and, instead, the movant is entitled to judgment
as a matter of law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). When reviewing a motion for summary judgment,
the Court views the record and draws all reasonable inferences from it in the light most favorable
to the nonmoving party. Khungar v. Access Cmty. Health Network, 985 F.3d 565, 572–73 (7th Cir.
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2021). It cannot weigh evidence or make credibility determinations on summary judgment because
those tasks are left to the fact-finder. Miller v. Gonzalez, 761 F.3d 822, 827 (7th Cir. 2014). A
court only has to consider the materials cited by the parties, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3); it need
not "scour the record" for evidence that might be relevant. Grant v. Trs. of Ind. Univ., 870 F.3d
562, 573−74 (7th Cir. 2017) (cleaned up).
A party seeking summary judgment must inform the district court of the basis for its motion
and identify the record evidence it contends demonstrates the absence of a genuine issue of
material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986).
Whether a party asserts that a fact is undisputed or genuinely disputed, the party must
support the asserted fact by citing to particular parts of the record, including depositions,
documents, or affidavits. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(A). Failure to properly support a fact in
opposition to a movant's factual assertion can result in the movant's fact being considered
undisputed, and potentially in the grant of summary judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(e).
II. 	FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The following facts are not necessarily objectively true, but as required by Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 56, the facts are presented in the light most favorable to Mr. Myers as the non-
moving party. See Zerante v. DeLuca, 555 F.3d 582, 584 (7th Cir. 2009); Anderson v. Liberty
Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986).
At all times relevant to the claims in this suit, Mr. Myers was a pretrial detainee at the Jail.
A. Scott County Jail Offender Grievance Process
The Scott County Jail has a standardized inmate grievance process which was in place
during the time Mr. Myers alleges his rights were violated. (Dkt. 58-1; Dkt. 58-5 at 1-2).
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Grievances may be submitted on the standard grievance form provided on the kiosk in the housing
areas. (Dkt. 58-1 at 1). The inmate grievance process contains three steps:
1. 	Inmate grievances are brought to the attention of the captain for investigation,
consideration, and response.
2. 	If an inmate is not satisfied with the captain's response, he may pursue an appeal to the
Jail Commander for further review and response. The Jail Commander or a designee
will respond within five business days, and both an electronic and a printed version will
be sent to the inmate.
3. 	If an inmate is not satisfied with the response from the Jail Commander or designee, he
may pursue an appeal to the Sheriff for further review and consideration.
(Dkt. 58-1; Dkt. 58-5 at 2).
After arriving at the Jail, an inmate receives information on the grievance process and how
to submit a grievance using the standard grievance form on the kiosk in each housing area. (Dkt.
58-5 at 2). When an inmate submits a grievance, he can choose between a general and a medical
grievance. Id. An inmate should choose the medical grievance option when grieving an issue with
his medical care. Id.
B. Plaintiff's Participation in the Grievance Process
Mr. Myers' claim is premised on his allegations that he experienced severe pain in his
shoulders since June 2023. (Dkt. 27 at 2). Mr. Myers complained to the defendants, and they
refused to provide him with meaningful treatment. Id. He was denied diagnostic testing, such as
an MRI or x-ray at the Jail, allegedly because of their cost. Id. at 3. Mr. Myers initiated this civil
action on November 8, 2023. (Dkt. 1).
Mr. Myers was housed in the Jail from June 11, 2022, to March 11, 2025. (Dkt. 58-5 at 3).
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On July 3, 2022, Mr. Myers submitted a medical grievance (id. 4764895) requesting that
his medications and medical glasses be retrieved from his wife's house. (Dkt. 58-4 at 22). This
grievance was responded to the same day and the response informed him that this request was not
a medical grievance and that requests for medication or glasses needed to be submitted as a sick
call request. Id. Mr. Myers did not seek an appeal of this grievance. Id.
On June 22, 2024, Mr. Myers submitted a general grievance (Mail id: 10780958) asking if
the nurse or doctor ordered him to get more lab work done. (Dkt. 58-2 at 42). The grievance was
responded to on June 27, and he was told he needed to speak with medical staff. Id. Mr. Myers did
not seek an appeal of this grievance. Id.
On June 27, 2024, Mr. Myers submitted a medical grievance (Mail id: 10846359)
requesting to know why he had lab work done. (Dkt. 58-2 at 41). The grievance was responded to
the next day, and he was instructed to use a sick call request to obtain this information. Id. Mr.
Myers did not seek an appeal of this grievance. Id.
Mr. Myers submitted three unrelated grievances in October 2024 (regarding his "chirps"
text message account), one in November 2024 (regarding a commissary order), and two in January
2025 (requesting copies of his emails). All grievances were responded to, and Mr. Myers did not
seek to appeal any of them. (Dkt. 52-2 at 7-8, 31-34); (Dkt. 58-5 at 3-4).
III. 	DISCUSSION
The PLRA requires that a prisoner exhaust available administrative remedies before suing
over prison conditions. 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). "[T]he PLRA's exhaustion requirement applies to
all inmate suits about prison life, whether they involve general circumstances or particular
episodes, and whether they allege excessive force or some other wrong." Porter v. Nussle, 534
U.S. 516, 532 (2002) (citation omitted).
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"To exhaust administrative remedies, a prisoner must comply strictly with the prison's
administrative rules by filing grievances and appeals as the rules dictate." Reid v. Balota, 962 F.3d
325, 329 (7th Cir. 2020) (citing Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 90-91 (2006)). A "prisoner must
submit inmate complaints and appeals 'in the place, and at the time, the prison's administrative
rules require.'" Dale v. Lappin, 376 F.3d 652, 655 (7th Cir. 2004) (quoting Pozo v. McCaughtry,
286 F.3d 1022, 1025 (7th Cir. 2002)).
"Because exhaustion is an affirmative defense," Defendants face the burden of establishing
that "an administrative remedy was available and that [Mr. Myers] failed to pursue it." Thomas v.
Reese, 787 F.3d 845, 847 (7th Cir. 2015). "[T]he ordinary meaning of the word 'available' is
'capable of use for the accomplishment of a purpose,' and that which 'is accessible or may be
obtained.'" Ross v. Blake, 578 U.S. 632, 642 (2016) (internal quotation omitted). "[A]n inmate is
required to exhaust those, but only those, grievance procedures that are capable of use to obtain
some relief for the action complained of." Id. (internal quotation omitted).
The Seventh Circuit "has taken a strict compliance approach to exhaustion." Wilborn v.
Ealey, 881 F.3d 998, 1004 (7th Cir. 2018). "An inmate must comply with the administrative
grievance process that the State establishes.…" Id.; see also Ross, 578 U.S. at 639 (the mandatory
language of the PLRA "means a court may not excuse a failure to exhaust…").
Defendants 	have 	met 	their 	burden 	of 	proving 	that 	Mr. 	Myers 	"had 	available
[administrative] remedies that he did not utilize." Dale, 376 F.3d at 656. The undisputed record
reflects that Mr. Myers was aware of the grievance process, as he filed numerous general and
medical grievances during his time at the Jail. It is also undisputed that Mr. Myers did not file any
grievance related to his claims regarding shoulder pain or that diagnostic testing was not done.
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Further, Mr. Myers has not identified a genuine issue of material fact supported by
admissible evidence that counters the facts established by Defendants. In response to the
Defendants' summary judgment motion, Mr. Myers filed a "motion for summary judgment." (Dkt.
64). The Court denied his motion and allowed Mr. Myers leave to provide a supplemental response
to Defendants summary judgment motion by a certain deadline. (Dkt. 66). The Court also
explained how to provide a sworn statement in opposition. Id. This deadline was extended on his
request twice. (Dkts. 74, 78). Mr. Myers has filed many short letters with the Court since the filing
of the summary judgement motion but has not filed a sworn declaration. See (Dkts. 63, 64, 70, 71,
72, 73, 76, 81, 83). Regardless, even a liberal construction of these filings does not create a dispute
of fact that precludes summary judgment. In these filings, Mr. Myers argues that his mother called
the Jail to discuss his complaints ((Dkts. 63, 64, 71, 76), that he sent in sick call requests ((Dkts.
64, 71) and he reiterates his complaints against the Jail staff (Dkts. 70, 71, 73, 76, 81, 83).
However, Mr. Myers' sick call requests and his mother calling the Jail are not grievances and do
not satisfy the strict compliance of the exhaustion requirement.
In short, Mr. Myers did not complete the available administrative process as required
before filing this lawsuit. Reid, 962 F.3d at 329. The consequence of his failure to exhaust his
administrative remedies, in light of 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), is that his claims against Defendants
must be dismissed without prejudice. Id; see also Ford v. Johnson, 362 F.3d 395, 401 (holding
that "all dismissals under § 1997e(a) should be without prejudice.").
IV. 	CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed above, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, Dkt. [57], is
GRANTED. Mr. Myers' pending motion for Court assistance, Dkt. [83], is DENIED. Mr. Myers'
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Motions for Copies, Dkts. [84] and [85], are GRANTED. The clerk is directed to enclose a copy
of the public docket sheet with Mr. Myers' copy of this Order.
Judgment dismissing this action without prejudice shall now issue.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Date: 2/17/2026
Distribution:
TYSON MYERS
942922
NEW CASTLE - CF
NEW CASTLE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY - Inmate Mail/Parcels
1000 Van Nuys Road
P.O. Box E
NEW CASTLE, IN 47362
All Electronically Registered Counsel
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