Judge Glenn Suddaby
Inmate Porter's pro se civil rights action alleged that he was deliberately subjected to unsafe working conditions. Porter fell from a chair—on which Young purportedly ordered him to stand—while cleaning a wall-mounted fan in his dormitory. In addition to qualified immunity, Young claimed Porter did not show an Eighth Amendment unsafe working condition claim because there was no evidence that the subject chair was defective or broken. Accepting a magistrate judge's recommendation, the court dismissed Porter's complaint. The magistrate found nothing inherently unsafe or dangerous about standing on a chair to clean the fan, and nothing showed Young was made aware of any unsafe working condition. The court found the record did not establish a substantial risk of serious harm. The chair was not shown defective. Chairs in those in Young's dormitory were only 18 inches high. Nor did the record show deliberate indifference to Porter's health or safety. Further, Porter did not explain how informing Young that he feared losing his balance on a chair, and requesting a ladder or help holding the chair, would have been an "argument" sufficient for Porter to be charged with refusing to obey a direct order under Inmate Rule 106.10.
