31. Personnel.

U.S. District Court

SUPERVISION

QUALIFICATIONS

Perez v. Oakland County, 380 F.Supp.2d 830 (E.D.Mich. 2005). The father and personal representative of the estate of an inmate brought a suit under [section] 1983, alleging that the defendants violated the inmate's Eighth Amendment rights by failing to provide appropriate mental health treatment or monitoring when the inmate was being held in the county jail, leading to the inmate's suicide. The district court held that the county did not act with deliberate indifference in allowing the inmate caseworker, who allegedly lacked sufficient medical background or expertise, to make decisions affecting the health care needs of the inmate. The court noted that the challenged practice was widespread, with the "vast majority" of county jails allowing employees who were not psychiatrists, but who had been trained in suicide detection and prevention, to make determinations whether inmates were suicidal or potentially suicidal. The court held that the caseworker was entitled to qualified immunity because it was not established at the time of the inmate's suicide that the caseworker's actions of making determinations concerning the inmate's cell assignments, without first consulting the inmate's physician or psychiatrist, would violate the inmate's Eighth Amendment rights. According to the court, the jail psychiatrist did not disregard a known and serious medical need, where evidence demonstrated that even though the psychiatrist knew that the inmate was not taking his medication, he determined through his own direct evaluation that the inmate was suicidal. The court found that allegations that the sheriff failed to ensure that the county's deputies enforced and followed the law could not sustain a [section] 1983 claim absent evidence that the sheriff himself engaged in active unconstitutional behavior by directly participating, encouraging, authorizing, or acquiescing in the allegedly offending conduct of the sheriffs deputy. (Oakland County Jail, Michigan)

U.S. District Court

TITLE VII

HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

RETALIATION

Sasser v. Alabama Dept. of Corrections, 373...