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| Prison bias case rejected |
| By Times Leader |
| Published: 04/26/2004 |
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A federal jury last Tuesday ruled against a Pennsylvania corrections officer who claimed he was fired because he said black inmates were being discriminated against in parole decisions. Kerry Dennison, 42, of Zion Grove, was fired in June 2003 from his position as a psychological services associate at the State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy. Dennison filed suit against the state Department of Corrections four months later, alleging he was fired because he was directed to change reports on 15 black inmates to recommend against parole. Dennison also claimed he was harassed and intimidated because he testified on behalf a co-worker, Stephen Demyun of Kingston Township, who sued the prison on similar grounds. The Department of Corrections maintained Dennison was fired because he removed confidential psychological files from the prison and disclosed them to unauthorized people. Dennison had sought damages on multiple counts, including violation of his right to free speech and the state's Whistleblower's Law, which protects employees who report wrongdoing of a public agency. The trial started last Wednesday before U.S. District Judge James Munley in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The panel returned the verdict in favor of the department on all counts Tuesday afternoon. "This case affirms that a jury has determined what we've already known, that the Department of Corrections does not tolerate racism," press secretary Susan McNaughton said in a prepared statement. "We are grateful the jury listened to all the facts of the case and that we were afforded the opportunity to present, to an unbiased court, all the circumstances involved." The Department of Corrections was also victorious in the suit filed by Demyun, who claimed he was fired because he refused to list the race and religion on reports he submitted for black inmates. A federal jury ruled in the department's favor in February 2002. |
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