ALD-218 NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 22-1357 ___________ MICHAEL WALKER; MAURICE PEARSON v. JOHN E. WETZEL, Secretary of Corrections; KEVIN KAUFFMAN, Superintendent, SCI Huntingdon; J. KOHLER, Deputy Superintendent of Facilities Services, SCI Huntingdon; S. WALTERS, Deputy Superintendent of Centralized Services, SCI Huntingdon; JILL SPYLHER, Deputy Superintendent of Centralized Services, SCI Huntingdon; PAULA PRICE, Health Care Administrator, SCI Huntingdon; A. SCALIA, Institution Safety Manager, SCI Huntingdon; G. POWELL, Facility Maintenance Manager #1, SCI Huntingdon; MR. HOUP, Laundry Department Supervisor, SCI Huntingdon; W. HOUSE, Major of the Guards; C. LOY, Major of Unit Management; GEORGE RALSTON, Unit Manager; M. YOST, Unit Manager Michael Walker, Appellant ____________________________________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil Action No. 3:20-cv-01608) District Judge: Honorable Robert D. Mariani ____________________________________ Submitted for Possible Dismissal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) or Summary Action Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6 August 11, 2022 Before: JORDAN, RESTREPO and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: September 8, 2022) _________ OPINION * _________ PER CURIAM Michael Walker, proceeding pro se, appeals an order of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissing his civil rights action. For the following reasons, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court. Walker is incarcerated at SCI-Huntingdon in Pennsylvania. In September 2020, he filed a complaint 1 against the Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections and various other correctional officials and employees arising from his conditions of confinement and medical treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, lodging federal claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of the Eighth Amendment and state claims for violations of the Pennsylvania Constitution. After the defendants moved to dismiss, the District Court granted Walker leave to file an amended complaint, which he did in April 2021. The amended complaint alleged that before the pandemic, SCI-Huntingdon was in a state of dilapidation—specifically, poor sanitation in cells and common areas; outdated and malfunctioning ventilation systems; and inadequate medical staff and treatment facilities (including the lack of a dedicated infirmary)—that constituted a substantial risk * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. 1 Walker brought this action with a co-plaintiff, but proceeds alone on appeal. 2 to inmates’ health and safety which was disregarded by the defendants. Walker claimed that this disregard was exposed by the onset of the pandemic, which, though itself unforeseeable, was predictably exacerbated by the poor conditions within the prison. He also claimed that corrections officials were deliberately indifferent to his specific medical needs by ignoring his requests for treatment when he experienced symptoms of COVID- 19 in April and May 2020, during a prison-wide lockdown. He explained that he eventually received treatment in June and was told in July that he had been infected with COVID-19 and had recovered. He claimed that he continued to experience COVID-19- related symptoms thereafter, but conceded that he …
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