NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 10-4458
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JEFFREY A. DOCK, individually and as executor of the
estate of Jeremy W. Dock; LINDA L. LONG, individually and as
executor of the estate of Jeremy W. Dock,
Appellants
v.
RUTH RUSH; DONALD READE; DONALD CAMPBELL;
RICK BLAIR, PSP Trooper; SNYDER COUNTY
________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civil No. 4-09-cv-00606)
District Judge: The Honorable John E. Jones
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Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
May 27, 2011
BEFORE: FUENTES, FISHER, and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.
(Filed June 22, 2011)
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OPINION OF THE COURT
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NYGAARD, Circuit Judge.
Jeffrey Dock and Linda Long, individually and as executors of the estate of
Jeremy Dock, appeal the District Court’s order dismissing their civil rights complaint
pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the following reasons, we will
affirm.
Inasmuch as we are writing primarily for the parties who are familiar with this
case, we need not recite the factual or procedural background of this case, except insofar
as is helpful to our discussion.
I.
Jeremy Dock was assisting law enforcement authorities in an investigation into
drug trafficking within the Snyder County, Pennsylvania prison. For his own safety, he
was being held in protective custody. While in protective custody, Dock was found dead
in his cell. Prison officials maintain that Dock committed suicide. Appellants believe he
was killed by prison guards because he was cooperating with the authorities. Appellants
filed an action in the District Court raising First, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment
claims, as well as state law claims sounding in negligence, survivorship and wrongful
death. Listed as defendants were Snyder County, Pennsylvania and several county
officials: Ruth Rush, the warden of the Snyder County Prison; Donald Reade, the deputy
warden; and Donald Campbell, the watch commander who found Dock’s body. Also
named as a defendant was Richard Blair, a Pennsylvania state trooper. Blair was not
alleged to have any role in Dock’s death, but conducted the subsequent investigation.1
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In the District Court, Appellants argued that Trooper Blair owed them a duty to
investigate the circumstances of Dock’s death under the Fourteenth Amendment. Finding
no support for this contention, the District Court dismissed Appellants’ claim against
Trooper Blair. On appeal, this claim has been neither identified as an issue nor argued in
the brief. An appellant is “required to set forth the issues raised on appeal and to present
an argument in support of those issues in [his] opening brief.” Kost v. Kozakiewicz, 1
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After giving the Appellants several opportunities to amend their complaint, the District
Court dismissed all claims.
II.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a district
court’s decision to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may
be granted. See Dique v. New Jersey State Police, 603 F.3d 181, 188 (3d Cir. 2010). “In
deciding a motion to dismiss, all well-pleaded allegations of the complaint must be taken
as true and interpreted in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, and all inferences must
be drawn in favor of them.” McTernan v. City of York, 577 F.3d 521, 526 (3d Cir. 2009)
(internal citation and quotation marks omitted). To withstand a motion to dismiss
pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter,
accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, -
-- U.S. --- , 129 S.Ct. 1937 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly), 550 U.S. 544,
570 (2007).
III.
We start with the Appellants’ Eighth Amendment claim. To state a claim for a
violation under the Eighth Amendment, the Appellants must allege that the defendant
acted with “deliberate indifference to inmate health or safety.” Farmer v. Brennan, 511
U.S. 825, 834 (1994) (internal quotations and citations omitted). Deliberate indifference
F.3d 176, 182 (3d Cir. 1993); see FED. R.APP. P. 28(a)(5), (9). “It is well settled that an
appellant's failure to identify or argue an issue in his opening brief constitutes waiver of
that issue on appeal.” United States v. Pelullo, 399 F.3d 197, 222 (3d Cir. 2005). The
instant appeal presents no circumstances which counsel against application of that rule
and we deem this issue waived.
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requires that prison officials know of an excessive risk to an inmate’s health or safety and
affirmatively disregard that risk. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 835. The Appellants’ Eighth
Amendment allegation fails because they are attempting to establish liability based on
supervisory liability. See Rode v. Dellarciprete, 845 F.2d 1195, 1207 (3d Cir. 1988)
(liability cannot be predicated solely on the operation of respondeat superior, as a
defendant must have personal involvement in a civil rights action). Appellants do not
allege that any of the Appellees had personal knowledge of any threats to Dock’s safety
and subsequently acted with deliberate indifference. After reviewing the District Court
pleadings, the notice of appeal, and the parties’ responses, we cannot find any specific
allegations in the complaint from which we can plausibly infer that the Appellees were
deliberately indifferent to Dock’s safety. See, e.g., Spruill v. Gillis, 372 F.3d 218, 235
(3d Cir. 2004). Accordingly, this claim was properly dismissed.
Further, the District Court correctly found the Appellants’ First Amendment
claims to be flawed. To prevail on a claim for retaliation by prison officials, a plaintiff
must show that: (1) he engaged in constitutionally protected conduct; (2) he suffered
some “adverse action” by prison officials; and (3) his exercise of a constitutional right
was a substantial or motivating factor in the adverse action. Rauser v. Horn, 241 F.3d
330, 333-34 (3d Cir.2001). Here, the District Court correctly determined that Appellants
properly alleged that Dock engaged in the protected activity of assisting law enforcement
personnel with an investigation. However, neither the Appellants’ original complaint,
nor their subsequent amended version relate any factual allegations connecting Dock’s
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death with this protected activity. Indeed, no allegation is made that the Appellees took
any action to retaliate against Dock for his cooperation in the criminal investigation.
Therefore, for the same reasons, we agree with the District Court that Appellants failed to
state claims upon which relief could be granted under the First Amendment to the
Constitution.
IV.
Appellants next argue that the District Court erred in its determination that they
failed to state a claim under Pennsylvania law. We disagree.
The District Court correctly determined that the Pennsylvania Political
Subdivision Tort Claims Act, 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 8541-8542. The Act provides that
“no local agency shall be liable for any act of the local agency or employees thereof or
any other person.” 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 8541. Here, the Appellants have sued Snyder
County, Pennsylvania, which is clearly a “local agency” under the Act and is, therefore,
immune from suit. Moreover, the individual Appellees are also immune from suit under
the Act. “Municipal employees, including school district employees, are generally
immune from liability to the same extent as their employing agency, so long as the act
committed was within the scope of the employee’s employment.” Sanford v. Stiles, 456
F.3d 298, 315 (3d Cir. 2006) (citing 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 8545). Although there is an
exception to this general rule, providing that employees are not immune from liability
under § 8545 where their conduct amounts to “actual malice” or “willful misconduct,” no
such conduct has been pleaded here. Appellants have brought state law claims of
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wrongful death, negligence and survivorship – none of which connote malicious or
willful actions. See Bright v. Westmoreland County, 443 F.3d 276 (3d Cir. 2006).
V.
Lastly, Appellants maintain that the District Court erred by refusing them access
to discovery before dismissing their amended complaint. Appellants argue that our
decision in Alston v. Parker, 363 F.3d 229 (3d Cir. 2004) and local practice in the Middle
District of Pennsylvania, give them the opportunity to conduct discovery before the
District Court rules on a motion to dismiss. True enough, we recognized in Alston that
“in a civil rights action . . . the plaintiff may be disadvantaged by not having access to
precisely who the relevant actors were, and their precise roles.” Id. at 236. We held,
therefore, that “perhaps access to some initial discovery would be advisable.” Id. Our
decision in Alston reflected, among other things, our concern that the District Court had
dismissed an initial complaint without leave to amend. Id. at 235. We specifically held
that where a complaint is vulnerable to dismissal under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), a district
court should permit curative amendment, provided to do so would not be an exercise in
futility. Id. Here, we have no such concern given the fact that the District Court
permitted such an amendment and was extraordinarily generous with the Appellants,
permitting amendment even when the prescribed time for completing such a filing had
passed.
As to the common practice of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, we are likewise
unpersuaded by the Appellants’ argument. While it may be common practice to permit
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discovery while a partial motion to dismiss is pending, the motion to dismiss in this case
would resolve the case in toto, making any delay for discovery inappropriate.
Finally, in dismissing the amended complaint, the District Court determined that it
would be futile to permit further amendment. See, e.g., Hill v. City of Scranton, 411 F.3d
118, 134 (3d Cir. 2005) (“[A] district court has discretion to deny a request to amend if it
is apparent from the record that . . . the amendment would be futile[.]”). The record
before the District Court included the Appellants’ original and amended complaints,
exhibits, responses to the motion to dismiss and accompanying arguments. The District
Court was well-versed with Appellants’ allegations and gave them more than enough
opportunities to supplement or clarify their allegations. Given that, we find it reasonable
for the District Court to conclude that the Appellants had presented their best allegations,
and that any further amendment would not cure the deficiencies. Accordingly, it was not
an abuse of discretion for the District Court to deny leave to further amend and to dismiss
Appellants’ complaint with prejudice.
V.
We will affirm the District Court’s dismissal of the Appellants’ complaint.
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