Dist. Ct. did not err in denying plaintiff-pre-trial detainee’s request for class action certification of his lawsuit, alleging that defendant’s “paper triage” policy, that required pre-trial detainees to submit health service request form with respect to detainee’s request for dental services, but failed to provide any face-to-face assessment by jail medical personnel of pre-trial detainee’s dental pain prior to detainee receiving care from dentist that occurred between three and thirty days after said request for dental care, violated 14th Amendment. Plaintiff failed to satisfy commonality requirement for class action treatment, where claims of every proposed class member would not rise or fall based on resolution of whether paper triage policy existed, and where consideration as to whether said policy was objectively unreasonable required individualized, plaintiff-specific assessments. Plaintiff also failed to satisfy typicality element of Rule 23(a)(3), since dental services request of each class action member presented fundamentally unique circumstances.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Class Action