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Mercer v. Rodriquez6/8/2004
ority of the Department of Correction, to include rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, except as noted herein." The court found that the plaintiff's claims were grievable. The plaintiff acknowledges that he did not file a grievance. Even if the court was wrong and the plaintiff's claim was one of classification, the plaintiff did not file an appeal as provided by directive 9.2, which was an administrative remedy available to him.
The United States Supreme Court in Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 519, 122 S. Ct. 983, 152 L. Ed. 2d 12 (2002), addressed the obligation of inmates, who claim their federal rights were denied while they were incarcerated, to exhaust prison grievance procedures before seeking judicial relief. The Supreme Court discussed the history of 42 U.S.C. § 1997e (a) and its predecessor, noting that in 1996, Congress invigorated the exhaustion provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act. Id., 524. The dominant concern of the act is "to promote administrative redress, filter out groundless claims, and foster better prepared litigation of claims aired in court ...." (Citation omitted.) Id., 528. " xhaustion in cases covered by § 1997e (a) is now mandatory." Id., 524.
The allegations of the complaint regarding the actions the plaintiff took to resolve his claim of discrimination by speaking to the defendants and writing letters is unavailing to his claim that he exhausted the available remedies because those actions do not satisfy the requirements of administrative remedies available to him. See Hock v. Thipedeau, 245 F. Sup. 2d 451 (D. Conn. 2003). In Hock, the plaintiff inmate brought an action against the defendant, a former department of correction officer, for violating the eighth amendment right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment. Id., 452-53. While the plaintiff was incarcerated, she and the defendant engaged in a relationship, which, when discovered, resulted in the defendant's resignation from the department and the plaintiff's action. Id., 454. The plaintiff voluntarily cooperated with the department investigation of the defendant's conduct. Id. Thereafter, she commenced an action against the defendant. After the jury returned a verdict in her favor, the defendant filed a motion to reconsider the court's denial of his motion to dismiss. Id., 453.
The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut granted the motion to reconsider and set aside the jury's verdict, concluding that the plaintiff had failed to exhaust the administrative procedures set forth in the department directive. Id., 458. "Under Connecticut's administrative scheme, if a complaint is brought to the attention of the [department of correction] and it investigates the matter and makes conclusions based on information provided in part by an inmate, that does not relieve the inmate of her responsibility to follow the proper procedures if she decides to bring a federal action based on such claims." Id., 457, citing Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S. 731, 121 S. Ct. 1819, 149 L. Ed. 2d 958 (2001). Furthermore, the department's directives "set forth the procedures for an inmate to set into motion the grievance process." Hock v. Thipedeau, supra, 245 F. Sup. 2d 456. " rievances that are rejected may be appealed; the Directives provide for three levels of review." Id. The District Court ruled that the plaintiff in Hock "must exhaust all available administrative procedures as set forth in the Directives prior to filing suit in Federal Court." Id., citing Booth v. Churner, supra, 736. We therefore conclude that the plaintiff's alleged efforts to secure a place in the marker shop did not exhaust the administrative remedies that were available.
On appeal, the plaintif
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