Garcia v. Heath, 74 F.4th 44

April 18, 2011 electrical fire at Sing Sing disrupted cells and evacuation; multiple inmates filed related grievances under New York's Inmate Grievance Program (IGP).
Garcia filed an initial grievance about fire procedures and health effects; DOCCS records show many grievances were consolidated for review but Garcia’s name was omitted from the consolidated list.
Garcia submitted a declaration saying he received an IGRC denial (about May 20, 2011), appealed to the Superintendent, received a further denial, and appealed to CORC; he produced no documentary copies of those denials/appeals.
DOCCS defendants produced no record of a denial or of Garcia’s appeals; they argue the absence of CORC records means Garcia failed to exhaust.
The district court granted summary judgment for defendants on PLRA-exhaustion grounds, finding no record of appeals to CORC; Garcia appealed.
The Second Circuit held that, drawing all inferences for Garcia, a genuine dispute of material fact exists about whether he exhausted available remedies (possible failure to consolidate or to record denials) and vacated and remanded for further proceedings, at minimum an evidentiary hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Garcia exhausted PLRA administrative remedies (IGP three-step process)	Garcia declares he received denials and pursued IGRC → Superintendent → CORC appeals	DOCCS records show no appeal to CORC, so Garcia failed to exhaust	Genuine dispute of material fact; cannot grant summary judgment for defendants on exhaustion
Whether Garcia’s unsworn declaration and initial grievance suffice to raise a factual dispute	Declaration + proof of initial grievance + plausible system error support that he appealed	Lack of documentary proof of subsequent appeals defeats his claim	Court finds declaration and circumstantial record can create a triable dispute
Effect of DOCCS consolidation/recordkeeping failures on availability of remedies	If Garcia was omitted from a consolidated group or DOCCS failed to record denials, appeals may have been unavailable or unlogged	Absence of Garcia in consolidated list implies individualized adjudication and therefore an appeal record should exist	If remedies were not effectively available (failure to record/consolidate), PLRA exhaustion requirement may not bar suit; issue for factfinder
Proper remedy at summary judgment stage	Garcia seeks denial of summary judgment and factfinding (hearing)	Defendants seek affirmance of summary judgment based on record absence	Vacated summary judgment; remand for further proceedings and at least an evidentiary hearing to resolve exhaustion

Bellamy v. City of New York, 914 F.3d 727 (2d Cir. 2019) (plaintiff testimony alone can create a genuine issue of material fact)
Burg v. Gosselin, 591 F.3d 95 (2d Cir. 2010) (summary judgment review resolves ambiguities in favor of nonmoving party)
Romano v. Ulrich, 49 F.4th 148 (2d Cir. 2022) (standard for summary judgment stated)
Messa v. Goord, 652 F.3d 305 (2d Cir. 2011) (district court should hold an evidentiary hearing on exhaustion when factual disputes exist)
Rucker v. Giffen, 997 F.3d 88 (2d Cir. 2021) (PLRA requires exhaustion of administrative remedies that are actually "available")
Ross v. Blake, 578 U.S. 632 (U.S. 2016) (availability of administrative remedies is a threshold inquiry under the PLRA)
Williams v. Priatno, 829 F.3d 118 (2d Cir. 2016) (describes New York DOCCS IGP as the applicable administrative scheme)