A pro se plaintiff brought a civil rights action against officials at the Federal Correction Institute In Ohio where he was incarcerated and against officials at a detention center in Brooklyn, New York, where he had been held for 59 days.  The court granted summary judgment as to the officials in Ohio but denied it as to the claims regarding Brooklyn.  While Enigwe had not properly filled out the forms to exhaust his claims regarding Brooklyn, the court ruled that there is a genuine question of fact as to whether he should be excused from having to exhaust his administrative remedies, given the obstacles he claimed that the workers at the Brooklyn facility put in his way to block him from properly doing so.  The court also concluded that “there is a disputed issue of fact regarding the physical injuries Enigwe may have suffered.”

Enigwe filed a motion for reconsideration, which was denied by the court at 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68317.  As to Enigwe’s claims of a violation of his Eighth Amendment rights, the court ruled that he “presented no evidence supporting these allegations… Enigwe has never sought medical treatment for dizziness…Enigwe’s medical records do not demonstrate that a physician ever suggested that he had a health problem that required removal from areas exposed to” secondhand smoke.  The court also ruled that  Enigwe failed to “present any evidence tending to support his claims” that he was exposed to unreasonably high levels of secondhand smoke.

2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66022 (U.S.D.C. E.D.N.Y.)