Joseph Taylor v. Joseph Visinsky , 534 F. App'x 110 ( 2013 )

NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 12-4156
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JOSEPH TAYLOR,
Appellant
v.
JOSEPH W. VISINSKY, Corrections Health Care Administrator;
DENISE R. THOMAS, Registered Nurse/Acting Corrections
Health Care Administrator;
JACK DEPNER, Medical Doctor; MS. J. M. ELLISON,
Registered Health Information Administrator;
BOBBI A. MCALLISTER, Physician Assistant Certified;
PAM WEIMER, Licensed Practical Nurse;
MICHELE SWANHART, Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner;
DR. DESCANI, Physician
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On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civil Action No. 3-12-cv-00046)
District Judge: Honorable Kim R. Gibson
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Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
August 9, 2013
Before: JORDAN, GREENAWAY, JR. and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: August 9, 2013)
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OPINION
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PER CURIAM
Joseph Taylor, a Pennsylvania state prisoner, filed a suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983 against some of the medical staff at the State Correctional Institute at Somerset,
where he is incarcerated. He listed seven claims: (1) he suffered from headaches
beginning in 2005 and as a result was “bounced back and forth” between the medical and
dental departments; (2) his wisdom tooth was pulled “without any visual problems”; (3)
he received a root canal on another tooth without a proper diagnosis, and during a dental
procedure in which one of his teeth was being pulled defendant Depner, a prison dentist,
“openly admitted that he knew [that that] tooth was cracked for years but did nothing”;
(4) he was prescribed an analgesic balm to alleviate pain after his dental work but did not
receive any follow up; (5) the prison required him to pay for two pairs of prescription
eyeglasses; (6) he suffered an allergic reaction to the lotion available in the prison
commissary but was not given a different lotion to use; and (7) he received an extra,
undocumented tuberculosis shot which caused various medical problems including
osteoarthritis.
The magistrate judge recommended dismissing the complaint under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(e)(2)(B) for failure to state a claim because he determined that:
Even if plaintiff is right and defendants are wrong about the state of his
health, the exhibits attached to the amended complaint show that
defendants plainly believe they are doing everything necessary to treat
plaintiff, either because they are treating the condition (or treated the
condition: treatment for headaches has not been sought since 2008; new
glasses were provided in 2009; the tooth pulled in 2009 was fractured and
causing plaintiff pain and plaintiff requested it [sic] pulled), or in the case
of the arthritis and discolorations of plaintiff’s fingers and toenails caused
by a TB shot, deny that it is a real possibility.
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Report and Recommendation, D. Ct. Docket No. 23. Over Taylor’s objections, the
District Court adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation and dismissed
the case. He timely appealed to this Court.
We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We exercise
plenary review over a district court’s sua sponte dismissal, see Allah v. Seiverling, 229
F.3d 220, 223 (3d Cir. 2000), and may affirm the District Court's judgment on any basis
supported by the record. Murray v. Bledsoe, 650 F.3d 246, 247 (3d Cir. 2011) (per
curiam).
For essentially the reasons set forth in the magistrate judge’s report and
recommendation, we agree that each of the claims addressed by the Court below failed to
state a claim.1 However, neither the magistrate judge nor the District Court specifically
addressed Taylor’s claim that Depner delayed treatment of his fractured tooth.
Nevertheless, any error in failing to address the putative merits of this claim was
harmless and does not necessitate remand because that claim was clearly barred by res
judicata.
The principle of res judicata bars claims that were brought, or could have been
brought, in a previous action. In re Mullarkey, 536 F.3d 215, 225 (3d Cir. 2008). It
1
In particular, we agree that Taylor’s claim that he was given a tuberculosis shot which
caused, among other things, osteoarthritis was insufficient “to raise a right to relief above
the speculative level,” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007), and
that Taylor’s various negligence claims did not state a claim under § 1983. See Farmer v.
Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 835 (1994) (“deliberate indifference describes a state of mind
more blameworthy than negligence”).
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applies where there is “(1) a final judgment on the merits in a prior suit involving (2) the
same parties or their privies and (3) a subsequent suit based on the same cause of action.”
Id. Although res judicata is an affirmative defense for a defendant to plead, Fed. R. Civ.
P. 8(c), dismissal for failure to state a claim may be appropriate when it is obvious, either
from the face of the pleading or from other court records, that an affirmative defense such
as res judicata will necessarily defeat the claim. See Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 215
(2007).
This suit is not Taylor’s first against defendant Depner regarding allegedly
deficient dental care. In 2010, he filed a complaint claiming, among other things, that
Depner had incorrectly extracted Taylor’s wisdom tooth even though it was not the cause
of his pain. Although Taylor referenced the fractured tooth at issue in his present claims,
he noted that “that’s not the tooth that I’m talking about” and apparently limited his claim
against Depner to the wisdom tooth extraction. Complaint at 12, Taylor v. Visinsky, No.
10 Civ. 00135 (W.D. Pa. 2010). That claim—along with the remainder of his suit—was
dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and we
affirmed. See Taylor v. Visinsky, No. 10-3835, 422 F. App’x 76 (3d Cir. 2011). A
District Court’s order dismissing a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief
can be granted constitutes a “final judgment on the merits” for the purposes of res
judicata. See, e.g., Federated Dept. Stores, Inc. v. Moitie, 452 U.S. 394, 399 n. 3 (1981)
(“The dismissal for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)
is a ‘judgment on the merits’” for purposes of res judicata); Cieszkowska v. Gray Line
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New York, 295 F.3d 204 (2d Cir.2002) (giving res judicata effect to a prior suit which
had been dismissed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) for failure to state a claim upon
which relief could be granted and hence barring a second suit which the District Court
dismissed “for failure to state a claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) because the
complaint was barred by res judicata”). Thus, to the extent Taylor’s present claim
constitutes a reiteration of the claim he raised in his 2010 suit, he was barred from re-
raising it in the instant suit. To the extent his present claim is novel, he was likewise
barred from raising it in the instant suit because res judicata “prohibits reexamination not
only of matters actually decided in the prior case, but also those that the parties might
have, but did not, assert in that action.” Parkview Assocs. P’ship v. City of Lebanon, 225
F.3d 321, 329 n.2 (3d Cir. 2000). Taylor clearly could have raised his current claim—
alleging a delay in treating his fractured tooth until its removal in 2009—when he sued
Depner in 2010 over his dental care.2
Because we determine that District Courts dismissal of Taylor’s claims was
correct, we will affirm.
2
We note that Taylor filed the instant suit in 2012, over two years after Depner allegedly
informed him that he had known about the fractured tooth—the latest date at which this
claim could have accrued. It therefore appears to have been untimely filed beyond the
applicable statute of limitations. See 42 Pa. Con. Stat. § 5524(2) (providing a two-year
statute of limitations); Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 266-68, 276-77 (1985) (forum
state’s statute of limitations for personal injury actions applies to § 1983 actions).
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