Filed Date: Aug. 12, 2011
Closed Date: 2012
Clearinghouse coding complete
On August 12, 2011, a teenage inmate at the Robert N. Davoren Complex (“RNDC”) on Riker’s island, filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiff’s claims stemmed from an incident in June 2010 where the plaintiff was beaten by other inmates at the facility.
The plaintiff, represented by private counsel and The Legal Aid Society, sued the following: the City of New York, the Supervising Warden of the New York Department of Correction (“DOC”), the Chief of Department of the DOC, the Warden of RNDC, the Deputy Warden for Security of RNDC, and a number of unnamed corrections officers who were working at RNDC at the time of the incident. The plaintiff brought claims under 42 U.S.C. §1983, alleging violations of his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. He sought compensatory and punitive damages as well as reasonable attorneys’ fees.
Specifically, the plaintiff alleged the existence of an ongoing practice (“The Program”) at the RNDC in which guards allowed inmates to assault other inmates as a way to control and discipline those in custody. The plaintiff claimed that existence of The Program had been substantiated by an investigation conducted by New York City’s Department of Investigation and the DOC’s Inspector General. In 2008, a RNDC correction officer was indicted and convicted for using inmates as enforcers and encouraging inmate-on-inmate violence.
The plaintiff claimed he fell victim to this practice in June 2010, when an inmate at RNDC assaulted him in the presence of corrections officers who did nothing to stop the attack. Four other inmates joined the initial assault, and the plaintiff was beaten until he lost consciousness.
After months of discovery disputes, the plaintiff asked the court to impose sanctions on the defendants in February of 2012. Specifically, he alleged that the defendants had failed to comply with discovery requests.
Although the case was initially assigned to District Judge Robert Patterson, in April 2012, the case was referred to Magistrate Judge Frank Maas for settlement. On June 15, the parties submitted a stipulated settlement agreement regarding the attorney’s fees for work tied to the motion for sanctions, and the City of New York paid $13,000 to the plaintiff’s attorneys.
In July of 2012, the Court granted the plaintiff’s motion for sanctions, noting that the defendants had failed to produce information including: the investigation done following inmate-on-inmate assaults at RNDC, personnel records for the officers working at the site during the relevant time period, and a significant set of documents generated by the “Gang Intelligence Unit” at Riker’s Island. The Court imposed sanctions of $10,000 on the New York Law Department.
Shortly after that order, the parties agreed to a settlement of the entire case in which the City of New York paid the plaintiff $850,000 in damages and attorneys fees. The Court ended the case with a stipulation and order of dismissal on August 31, 2012.
Summary Authors
Chris Pollack (1/30/2019)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4349417/parties/john-v-city-of-new-york/
Abady, Jonathan S. (New York)
Abeysekera, Samantha (New York)
Akina, William Keaupuni (New York)
Anakhu, Joy Tolulope (New York)
Anci, Joseph (New York)
Abeysekera, Samantha (New York)
Akina, William Keaupuni (New York)
Anakhu, Joy Tolulope (New York)
Anderson, Robert James (New York)
Aribakan, Suzanne Emily (New York)
Arko, Christopher G. (New York)
Auletta, Steven Joseph (New York)
Bahrenburg, Richard (New York)
Balog, Aliza Jordana (New York)
Bardauskis, Elizabeth Barrett (New York)
Barnett, Camille Danielle (New York)
Bartlett, Caroline Firth (New York)
Bauman, Wesley Eugene (New York)
Beath, Patrick Neil (New York)
Bergman, Zachary Russell (New York)
Birnbaum, Brooke Allyson (New York)
Bogni, Jason Robert (New York)
Bouriat, Christopher Saleh (New York)
Braun, Daniel Michael (New York)
Breslow, Stephanie Marie (New York)
Brocker, Peter William (New York)
Brooks, Jeffrey Charles (New York)
Bruzzese, Sheryl Ann (New York)
Burleson, Shana Lynn (New York)
Byrns, Katherine Abigail (New York)
Cahill, Kathleen J. (New York)
Calhoun, Martha Anne (New York)
Calistro, Phyllis Gail (New York)
Canfield, Donna Anne (New York)
Carey, Charles Edward (New York)
Castro, Johana Vanessa (New York)
Catalano, Thomas A. (New York)
Cavalieri, Meghan Ann (New York)
Chen, Caroline Ling-Yu (New York)
Ciappetta, Nicholas Robert (New York)
Clark, Shawn Raymond (New York)
Cohen, Jessica Talia (New York)
Collyer, Adam Edward (New York)
Connelly, Elizabeth Colette (New York)
Cooper, David Allen (New York)
Coyne, Jennifer Angela (New York)
D'Andrea, Theresa Jeanine (New York)
Dandrige, Danielle M. (New York)
DeCastro, Maria Fernanda (New York)
Deconinck, Magda M. (New York)
DePaul, Philip Rudolph (New York)
Depoian, Carolyn Kay (New York)
Dervin, James Monroe (New York)
DiSenso, Anthony M. (New York)
Dunn-Jones, Felicia (New York)
Eichenholtz, Eric Jay (New York)
Englert, Eviana Linnea (New York)
Faddis, Hannah Victoria (New York)
Farrar, Brian Jeremy (New York)
Farrell, Odile Maun (New York)
Farrell, Peter Gerard (New York)
Fett, Baree Nichole (New York)
Fitzgibbon, Kaitlin Elizabeth (New York)
Fleming, Michael Friel (New York)
Fogarty, Peter John (New York)
Fraenkel, William Solomon (New York)
Francolla, Brian Christopher (New York)
Friedman, Joshua Mathew (New York)
Friedman, Steven A. (New York)
Frommer, Hillary A. (New York)
Fudim, Elissa Paulette (New York)
Garman, Ashley Rebecca (New York)
Gertzer, Michael Keith (New York)
Giovanatti, Neil Anthony (New York)
Goldberg-Cahn, Michelle L. (New York)
Gomez-Sanchez, Daniel Sergio (New York)
Graziadei, John Hopkins (New York)
Gugel, Alison Elaine (New York)
Gutmann, Joseph Aaron (New York)
Haber, Erica Michelle (New York)
Hackworth, Thaddeus Jeremiah (New York)
Hagopian, Caleb Charles (New York)
Harvis, Gabriel Paul (New York)
Helferich, Joanna R. (New York)
Hirschklau, Rebecca Rachel (New York)
Horowitz, Aviva Yocheved (New York)
Horton, James Fredrick (New York)
Jacobs, Elissa Beth (New York)
Johnson, Porsha Requel (New York)
Johnson, Paul Hasan (New York)
Jones, Felicia Dunn (New York)
Julie, Richard Spencer (New York)
Kantor, Scott Justin (New York)
Kirkpatrick, Steven Nelson (New York)
Kitzinger, Stephen Edward (New York)
Koduru, Jennifer Lilly (New York)
Kogel-Smucker, Sarah A. (New York)
Koster, Jeannette Arlin (New York)
Krasnow, Elizabeth N. (New York)
Krueger, Jenna Lynn (New York)
Kruk, Carolyn Elizabeth (New York)
Lichterman, Ariel Shaun (New York)
Lipkin, Andrew Gary (New York)
Lippin, Louise Hari (New York)
Lively, Lauren Almquist (New York)
Lucas, Andrew Joseph (New York)
MacFarlane, Katherine Alice (New York)
Mahon, Pamela Lynam (New York)
Mansoor, Dustin Peter (New York)
Markos, Dimitrios T. (New York)
Marutollo, Joseph Anthony (New York)
Maxey, Brian Guenther (New York)
Mbabazi, Deborah L. (New York)
Melissinos, Nicholas (New York)
Meltzer, Hilary Michele (New York)
Mettham, Suzanna Publicker (New York)
Meyer, Deborah Ilene (New York)
Mindrutiu, Linda Margareta (New York)
Mirabile, Catherine Mary (New York)
Modafferi, Matthew J. (New York)
Moe, Alison Gainfort (New York)
Molfetta, Michele Ann (New York)
Molloy, Anthony Molloy (New York)
Mouton, Gregory Paul (New York)
Myerberg, Andrew Thomas (New York)
Naughton, Kathleen Erin (New York)
Neufeld, Sheryl Rebecca (New York)
Nimick, Virginia Jackson (New York)
Noble, Alexander Macrae (New York)
O'Connor, Andrea Mary (New York)
O'Flynn, Mary Theresa (New York)
Okereke, Amy Nkemka (New York)
Owen, Andrew Galway (New York)
Passeser, Daniel Louis (New York)
Pasternack, Scott M. (New York)
Patrick, Bradford Collins (New York)
Perry, Devor Deland (New York)
Pollack, David Michael (New York)
Profeta, Lawrence John (New York)
Pullio, Robyn Nicole (New York)
Rabinowitz, Lisa Susan (New York)
Rauchberg, Andrew James (New York)
Renaghan, Sean Robert (New York)
Richards, Camiel S. (New York)
Richardson, Lisa Marie (New York)
Rivera, Suzette Corinne (New York)
Rosencrantz, Caryn A. (New York)
Rosinus, David Alan (New York)
Rossan, Jennifer Amy (New York)
Saavedra, Daniel G. (New York)
Santiago, Leticia Joy (New York)
Sarpong, Nana Kwame (New York)
Scharfstein, Susan P. (New York)
Schlesinger, Alan Maer (New York)
Schuman, Jennifer Helen (New York)
Seacord, Christopher Aaron (New York)
Seemen, Karen Jayne (New York)
Seligman, Rachel Amy (New York)
Shaffer, Ryan Glenn (New York)
Shammas, Cheryl Leah (New York)
Siddiqi, Omar Javed (New York)
Siskind, Shira Rachel (New York)
Sitaras, Basil Constantine (New York)
Smith, Jordan Michael (New York)
Smith, Katherine Elizabeth (New York)
Smith, Valerie Elizabeth (New York)
Smith-Williams, Qiana Charmaine (New York)
Speight, Melanie Mary (New York)
Stackhouse, Noreen M. (New York)
Stockman, Benjamin E. (New York)
Stodola, Damion Kenneth (New York)
Stolorow, Adam Michael (New York)
Strikowsky, Bruce Michael (New York)
Sullivan, Donald Christopher (New York)
Telfort, Pernell Michael (New York)
Waldauer, Jonathan Max (New York)
Weall, Katherine Jane (New York)
Weiler, Fred Michael (New York)
Weingarten, Richard Keith (New York)
Weir, Matthew Charles (New York)
Wenzel, Andrew Patrick (New York)
Wertheimer, Joshua Chanan (New York)
Wise, Desiree Adams (New York)
Wolf, Joshua Matthew (New York)
Zangrilli, Joseph Peter (New York)
Zgodny, Vicki Becker (New York)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4349417/john-v-city-of-new-york/
Last updated March 14, 2024, 3:23 a.m.
State / Territory: New York
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Aug. 12, 2011
Closing Date: 2012
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Inmate in New York jail
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Defendant Type(s):
Facility Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree
Amount Defendant Pays: 850,000
Issues
General/Misc.:
Incident/accident reporting & investigations
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:
Assault/abuse by non-staff (facilities)
Assault/abuse by staff (facilities)
Medical/Mental Health Care: