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Case of the Month April 2009

Inmate Forced to Sleep on Wet Mattress Receives $295K in Punitive Damages

Townsend v. Allen

Type of Case:
Civil Rights & Constitutional Law - Prisoners' Rights
Civil Rights & Constitutional Law - Human Rights
Civil Rights & Constitutional Law - Section 1983

Specific Liability:
Inmate was forced to sleep on wet moldy mattress in temporary lock-up

General Injury:
Monetary damages

Jurisdiction:
State: Wisconsin
Court: United States District Court, W.D. Wisconsin

Related Court Documents:
Order: 2005 WL 1189833
Order: 2008 WL 4756644

Case Name:
Reggie Townsend v. Jerry Allen, Larry Fuchs, Jeff Jaeger, Lizzie Tegels, Catherine Farrey, L.T. Capt. Dahnke, C. Warner and Doctor Heinzl

Docket/File Number:
3:05-CV-00204

Verdict:
Plaintiff, $295,000.00 in punitive damages from Allen

Verdict Date:
Sept. 18, 2008

Judge:
Barbara B. Crabb

Attorneys:
Plaintiff: David J. Harth and Melody K. Glazer, Perkins Coie LLP, Madison, Wis.; Melody K. Glazer and David J. Harth, Heller Ehrman LLP, Madison, Wis.; David J. Harth, Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, Madison, Wis.
Defendants: B. Van Hollen, Attorney General, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, Wis.; Mary Batt, Assistant Attorney General, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, Wis.; John R. Sweeney, Assistant Attorney General, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, Wis.; Amanda Tollefsen and Charles Hoornstra, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, Wis.

Trial Type:
Jury

Experts:
Plaintiff: Linda Farley, MD, family physician, Madison, Wis.
Defendants: None mentioned

Breakdown of Award:
$295,000.00 in punitive damages from defendant Allen

Summary of Facts:
New Lisbon Correctional Institution inmate Reggie Townsend was informed by Larry Fuchs Nov. 15, 2004 that he would be placed in temporary lock-up for making threats and committing battery on a staff member. Townsend denied that he threatened or harmed anyone. He claimed this was done in retaliation for a fight that had occurred two days earlier between black inmates and white staff members. He shared the cell with another inmate and was forced to sleep on a mattress on a wet floor. Townsend spent a total of 63 days in the temporary lock-up.

Townsend filed an action April 21, 2005 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin alleging the defendants violated his Constitutional rights by forcing him to sleep in unsanitary conditions. This caused him to suffer respiratory problems, chest and stomachaches and muscles aches. Townsend sent numerous requests, official inmate complaints and verbal comments to the defendants regarding the wet mattress but was ignored.

All defendants except Allen were dismissed prior to trial.

A jury convened before Judge Barbara B. Crabb found Sept. 17, 2008 that the plaintiff's mattress in lock-up was so unsanitary that it denied him the minimal civilized measure of life's necessities, defendant Allen was aware of these conditions, Allen consciously disregarded the unsanitary conditions of the mattress by failing to take reasonable measures to correct them, but Allen's conduct did not cause physical harm to the plaintiff.

The panel found Sept.18, 2008 that Allen's conduct demonstrated willful or reckless disregard for the plaintiff's constitutional rights. Townsend was awarded $295,000 in punitive damages.

Judge Crabb entered judgment accordingly Sept. 23.

Allen filed a motion to interview the jurors and for judgment as matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50 for a new trial or remittitur on damages. He alleged two of the jurors lied about their backgrounds during voir dire. Judge Crabb denied the motion for leave to interview jurors and gave the defendant until Nov. 19 to file a brief in support of motion for judgment, new trial or remittitur on damages. Townsend was given until Dec. 10 to file a response and Allen given until Dec. 22 to file a reply.

Court: United States District Court, W.D. Wisconsin.

Westlaw Citation:
2008 WL 5175165

West's Jury Verdicts - Wisconsin Reports Citation:
West’s J.V. Wis. Rep., Vol. 4, Iss. 7, p. 32 (2008)