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| Guard wins lawsuit over free speech |
| By concordmonitor.com - Molly A.K. Connors |
| Published: 10/31/2011 |
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NH - A Merrimack County jury ruled yesterday that the New Hampshire Department of Corrections interfered with one of its employees' rights to free expression and awarded the man $150,000 in damages. The jury did not find against the state's Division of Personnel, which was also named in the suit brought last year by Mark Jordan, a 43-year-old corrections officer and former union president. "I'm elated," Jordan said in an interview outside the Merrimack County Superior Courthouse. "I said from the very beginning that I was innocent and that I was going to be vindicated," said Jordan, who lives in Manchester. Jordan was suspended without pay from his job as a corrections officer at the state prison in Concord in March 2010 after a fight in the parking lot after work. Because Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn had asked for an external criminal investigation by the New Hampshire State Police instead of an internal affairs review, Jordan lost benefits, which also covered his wife and 8-year-old daughter, for the bulk of the suspension. The other officer involved in the fight, Sgt. Tom Messina, remained on the payroll. By law, the state will also need to pay Jordan's legal fees. His attorney, Chuck Douglas of Concord, estimated the bill would be about $100,000. It is likely the first time attorneys' fees have been paid in such a case since the law changed three years ago to allow such an award, Douglas said. The state has 30 days to appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Assistant Attorney General Lynmarie Cusack, who said she appreciated the jurors' patience over the eight-day trial, said she did not know yet if the state would appeal. Read More. |
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