Case Background
Tiante Dion Scott, who was incarcerated at North Kern State Prison at the time of the alleged events, filed a civil rights lawsuit against prison medical staff Dr. Olga Beregovskaya, Dr. David Gines, Registered Nurse Armendarez, and Licensed Vocational Nurse C. Agbasi. Scott filed the case in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California under case number 1:17-cv-01146. He filed his Third Amended Complaint, proceeding pro se, on November 19, 2018, bringing the action under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.
Cause
Scott alleged that prison medical staff showed deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs after he suffered injuries in a series of inmate attacks between February 27 and March 1, 2016. He claimed the Courts violated his right to medical care and all available remedies, subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment resulting in denial of due process, and breached his right to medical privacy of confidential material that jeopardized his personal safety.
Injury
Scott stated that he was attacked by inmates on four separate occasions over four days. During the first incident on February 27, 2016, an associate of the inmate who had confronted him stabbed him in the neck. He also suffered a torn rotator cuff and a torn bicep from the fights. Scott said medical staff repeatedly noted his neck wound as an ingrown hair rather than a stab wound, and that Dr. Gines prescribed antibiotics without personally examining him. Scott later said a piece of plastic shank had lodged in his internal jugular vein, near his carotid artery, and that Dr. Beregovskaya declined to order an MRI. He was prescribed antibiotics on multiple occasions, including March 8, 2016, and again on May 4, 2016, after the infection returned, which Scott attributed to the retained foreign object. Scott also said staff interviewed him about his injuries in the presence of the inmate involved in the altercations, which he said put him at risk of retaliation. He said physical therapy for his arm was ultimately prescribed after he filed a grievance with the Chief Medical Office.
Damages Sought
Scott asked the Court for a declaration that the Courts violated his constitutional rights. He requested a preliminary and permanent injunction ordering Dr. Beregovskaya to accurately record patient injuries and follow institutional rules, along with $1,000,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages against her. He sought a similar injunction against Dr. Gines requiring him to personally interview inmates in holding cages, along with $1,000,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages against him. He also requested injunctions against Armendarez and Agbasi requiring them to record injuries accurately and protect inmate privacy during interviews, along with $80,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages against each of them individually. Scott additionally asked for a jury trial, costs of suit, coverage for an MRI and possible surgery and physical therapy, and an order restricting foreign citizens from leaving the country or moving their bank accounts.
Key Arguments and Proceedings
Legal Representation
Plaintiff: Tiante Dion Scott, who proceeded pro se at the time of filing the Third Amended Complaint.
· Counsel for Plaintiff: Douglas L. Gordon of Miles, Sears & Eanni later appeared as lead attorney and was terminated from the case on May 5, 2026 | Lyndsie N. Russell of Miles Sears & Eanni also appeared as lead attorney and was terminated on May 5, 2026 | Lauryn Ashleigh Flores of Miles, Sears & Eanni appeared as an attorney to be noticed and was likewise terminated on May 5, 2026.
Courts: The Third Amended Complaint named Olga Beregovskaya, David Gines, Armendarez, and C. Agbasi as Courts. Earlier pleadings also named A. Shittu, Ndukwe N. Odeluga, J. Lewis, R. Robles, L. Krzysiak, S. H. Banayan, Karen Jose, T. Guh, Gabriel, Oyeniyi, and S. Garza, all of whom were terminated from the case on November 19, 2018. Gines, Agbasi, and Armendarez were separately terminated from the case on February 19, 2026.
· Counsel for Courts: Rolando William Pasquali of the California Attorney General's Office served as lead attorney for Beregovskaya, Gines, Agbasi, and Armendarez | Cheryl Weni Hsu, also of the California Attorney General's Office, represented the same Courts until her termination on February 11, 2025 | Tiffany Kao of the California Attorney General's Office is listed as an attorney to be noticed for Beregovskaya only.
Key Arguments or Remarks by Counsel
Claims
Scott argued that nurses Agbasi and Armendarez failed to follow required documentation guidelines under the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Operations Manual and California Code of Regulations Title 15. He said they interviewed him in the presence of the inmate involved in the altercations, which he said violated his right to a private medical consultation and increased his risk of retaliation. Scott claimed the nurses did not take his vital signs or properly assess his arm injury despite being told he could not raise it.
Scott further argued that Dr. Gines prescribed antibiotics based on a nurse's report describing his wound as an ingrown hair, without physically examining the wound himself, and did not ask about medication allergies before prescribing. He said Dr. Gines had the authority under prison regulations to see him as a walk-in patient after the fight but did not do so.
Regarding Dr. Beregovskaya, Scott claimed she focused on stitching a facial laceration and did not examine his neck wound even after he told her he had been stabbed. He said she attributed his inability to raise his arm to unwillingness rather than injury, declined to lance and drain the infected wound, and told him an X-ray could not detect glass or plastic, but then declined to order an MRI on the stated reasoning that an X-ray would have detected any foreign object — a sequence Scott described in his complaint as contradictory. Scott attributed the persistence of his infection to the retained shank fragment.
Defense
The Courts denied all of Scott's allegations in their Answer, dated October 30, 2020, and served November 3, 2020. They denied showing deliberate indifference to Scott's medical needs, denied failing to accurately document patient care, denied placing Scott in danger with other inmates, and denied denying him access to medical treatment. As to many specific factual allegations, they stated they lacked sufficient information or belief to admit or deny the allegations and denied them on that basis.
The Courts raised sixteen affirmative defenses. These included arguments that the complaint failed to state a claim, that punitive damages would violate various constitutional protections, that Scott's own negligence contributed to his injuries, that the Court lacked jurisdiction because Scott had failed to exhaust administrative remedies, that the Courts were immune or qualifiedly immune from liability, and that simple negligence does not amount to a federal civil rights violation, citing Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327 (1986). The Courts also argued that Dr. Beregovskaya and Dr. Gines were not liable for the acts of any subordinate, on the basis that any delegation or review of subordinate work was done in good faith and with due care.
Jury Verdict
The jury returned its verdict on February 25, 2026. The verdict form addressed the claim against Dr. Olga Beregovskaya only; the documents reviewed do not address the disposition of the claims against Gines, Armendarez, or Agbasi, who had been terminated as Courts on February 19, 2026, six days before the verdict. The basis for that termination is not stated in the documents reviewed.
On the verdict form, the jury answered "No" to Question 1, finding that Beregovskaya was not deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need of the Plaintiff. Per the verdict form's instructions, a "No" answer to Question 1 required the jury to sign and return the form without answering the remaining questions, and the jury did not answer the questions concerning causation of harm or damages.
The Court entered judgment in accordance with the jury verdict on February 25, 2026, which resulted in judgment for Beregovskaya given the jury's finding of no deliberate indifference. Keith Holland, Clerk of Court, entered the judgment.
Court documents are available upon request at [email protected]
