Calhoun v. Hargrove.

• Position: Civil rights, and punitive damages lawsuit, verbal harassment - Brief Article

U.S. Appeals Court

VERBAL HARASSMENT

Calhoun v. Hargrove, 312 F.3d 730 (5th Cir. 2002). A state prisoner field a pro se civil rights action seeking compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief. The district court dismissed the action. The appeals court reversed in part and remanded. The appeals court held that the prisoner's claims of verbal harassment were not actionable until [section] 1983, nor were his claims that he was once forced to get on his knees and beg for his lunch. The court concluded that such verbal abuse or humiliation qualified as "physical injury" as required to support a claim. The appeals court found that allegations that a prison official, knowing of a maximum 4-hour limitation established by a physician, forced the prisoner to work long hours far in excess of his medically-ordered maximum, were sufficient to state...