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| State pays parole officer $50k to end civil rights claim |
| By timesunion.com |
| Published: 02/09/2012 |
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ALBANY — The state has agreed to pay more than $50,000 to end a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a parole officer who accused top state officials of targeting him in a witch hunt after he testified about problems at the Division of Parole during a legislative hearing six years ago. Wayne Spence of Long Island was among several parole officers who raised public safety concerns and testified about questionable parole policies during the January 2006 hearing before the Assembly's Committee on Correction. The committee's hearings were prompted by a series of articles in the Times Union that showed dangerous parolees were being left on the streets after repeated violations, including committing new crimes. Spence, 46, and several other parole officers also accused top officials in the agency of abusing their authority by issuing administrative subpoenas to obtain the officers' email, telephone, banking and outside employment information. The Division of Parole was merged with the state Department of Corrections last year. Spence was suspended by the agency in 2007 as officials sought to fire him. His job was later reinstated by an arbitrator. He filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn alleging that top parole officials had retaliated against him for his testimony. A month after the Assembly hearing, the agency revoked Spence's status as a firearms instructor and pursued him for time-and-attendance conflicts related to a second job he worked at a child protective services agency. The federal lawsuit was filed against: Anthony Ellis, a State Police deputy superintendent who currently oversees internal affairs for the State Police (at the time, Ellis was director of the state Division of Parole); Theodore Cook III, a former State Police staff inspector who headed parole's internal affairs unit under Ellis; and Jose Burgos, a former director of human resources for the Division of Parole. All three were represented by the state attorney general's office. Two months ago, the state moved to settle the lawsuit days before jury selection was scheduled to begin in Brooklyn. The settlement agreement filed last week in U.S. District Court calls for Spence to receive $50,000 and for the state to pay his attorney's fees. Spence's attorney, Colleen M. Meenan of New York City, told the court in a recent letter that her fees and costs exceeded $300,000. "I'm glad to to put this behind me. It's been arduous, and hard on me and my family," Spence said. "My kids were a bit scarred by it and me having to be out of a job and without protection." Read More. |
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