Randy Erickson v. Gogebic County, Michigan, et al.

Marquette, Michigan personal injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff who sued on a excessive force civil rights violation theory.



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The Plaintiff claimed a corrections officer violated his Eighth Amendment both by using excessive force and by failing to obtain medical care afterward. The officer threw an inmate to the ground and kneed him in the back for failing to comply with an order. The district court denied the officer's qualified-immunity defense at the summary-judgment stage. We agree with the district court that a reasonable jury could find that the officer maliciously used force to retaliate against the inmate for his disrespectful language. And this version of the facts would show that the officer violated clearly established law. On the other hand, we disagree with the district court that a reasonable jury could find that the officer deliberately disregarded the inmate's medical needs. No evidence suggests that the officer even knew of the inmate's injuries.

Affirmed in part and reversed in part.