Blueford
Blueford v. Prunty
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Lay, J.
BACKGROUND
Herman J. Blueford is an inmate at Cali-patria State Prison in California. Bishop H. Moses directly supervised Blueford at the Prison Industry Authority Laundry (PIA Laundry), where Blueford worked. According to Blueford, Moses often behaved and spoke offensively before inmate workers. Moses would make strong sexual suggestions accompanied by demonstrative actions; would grab inmates and pull their hands toward his genitals; would grab his own genitals and refer to oral sex; would pull his *253 own pants up tightly and “demand” anal sex; and would feign martial arts strikes toward various parts of an inmate’s body, including toward the groin area.
Most or all of this behavior was intended to be, and generally was, taken by inmates to be “playful.” Even Blueford referred to the grabbing incidents as “play[ful].” Blueford, however, asserts that he believed some of Moses’ statements to have been literal requests for oral sex. Moses never touched Blueford in a sexually offensive way. Blue-ford was, however, subject to Moses’ feigned martial arts strikes, and was uncomfortable with Moses’ physical conduct toward others.