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| Former Ky. Jail Nurse Files Lawsuit |
| By Kentucky Post |
| Published: 08/06/2003 |
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Sandy Cook also says her bosses violated federal law and created a hostile working environment in the jail, the subject of at least five lawsuits alleging physical abuse of prisoners. While Cook would not discuss what she saw, she said in an interview with The Kentucky Post that her employment status suffered when she called Judge-Executive Darrell Link while she was on a medical leave. 'I called the judge and let him know I had concerns,'' she said. 'I told him I would not lie for anybody.' In mid-May, she said, she asked Link -- whom she knows personally and is a Sunday school teacher at her church -- to meet her to discuss the jail. Link never met with her, and refused to take her subsequent phone calls, she said. Link has a different take on the situation. He said his impression was she wanted to talk about her working conditions at the jail. He told her that was between her and the jailer. 'It never came to my attention that she wanted to talk about problems at the jail, except that she felt overworked.'' Link said. While her sick leave expired, Cook said, she planned to continue on leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act. But she was told she was a 'key employee' exempt from the act, said her attorney, Barbara Bonar. Although Cook was willing to come back, she was fired, Bonar said. 'Based on what she knew and the fact that she was willing to tell the truth, she was retaliated against, terminated and replaced,'' Bonar said. Cook, 48, worked at the jail since it expanded in 2000 to hold 300 inmates. Before that, the registered and practical nurse worked more than 20 years with the Northern Kentucky Health Department in Williamstown. In addition to the lawsuits, the jail has been the subject of a grand jury investigation, and a probe by Pendleton County officials, which also houses inmates at the 300-bed facility. Prisoner lawsuits allege that officers either encouraged or participated in the beating of prisoners, then denied them medical treatment. Grant County Jailer Steve Kellam, who was unavailable for comment, has said no problems exist at the jail. Link, who also could not be reached, has maintained the jail is safe. Cook would not say what she is prepared to tell investigators or lawyers for the prisoners who filed suit. But she said what she learned came from speaking to the prisoners and providing them medical treatment. She went to county officials with her complaints, she said, but was ignored. 'I tried to be an advocate for the inmates,'' she said. 'My thought was that I could try to take care of them.'' |
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