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Corrections officer sues claiming beating, racial taunts from other officers
Raga Justin reports in the Times Union that a Black former corrections officer, Vitolio Jeune, is suing his former co-workers and high-ranking members of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, alleging racial harassment and that he was beaten by other officers at a Washington County prison. He also claims he was fired after filing a complaint about the incident. Jeune's lawsuit says of white corrections officers, that, “they do not like Black correction officers being assigned to Great Meadow because, according to them, Black workers are slackers and lazy.” He says he also heard physical threats, name-calling, and taunts about his Haitian accent from other officers in a complaint filed in state Supreme Court in Albany County. “This attack was perpetrated by individuals senior to plaintiff and considered to be plaintiff’s superiors and was witnessed by correction officers who failed to intervene,” the lawsuit states. Officials with New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the union which represents correction officers, declined to comment, and state department of corrections officials did not respond to a request for comment. Read more about this story in the Times Union.