Three guards who were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Bridgewater State Hospital patient Joshua Messier have returned to work at the Department of Correction — each with six-figure payments for the wages they lost while they were out of work.

George Billadeau, John Raposo and Derek Howard were all paid large sums of money on Jan. 23, 2019, according to newly released data on state settlements. Billadeau was paid $312,780; Raposo was paid $234,000 and Howard was paid $225,160.

“While the negotiations are not public record, the settlements represent back pay awarded to the officers, who were reinstated after they were acquitted of all charges,” said Jason Dobson, a spokesman for the Department of Correction.

In February 2014, the Boston Globe published a story detailing Messier’s death at Bridgewater State Hospital, the state’s secure facility for people who are mentally ill. Messier had schizophrenia and was in the facility due to violent outbursts in a private psychiatric hospital.

According to the Globe, Messier died after being strapped to a bed and restrained by guards.

Hospital guards Billadeau, Raposo and Howard were charged with involuntary manslaughter and stood trial in December 2017. They were acquitted by a Superior Court judge.

The Associated Press reported in 2014 that the men were put on paid leave after the initial Globe report came out and fired after disciplinary hearings. A Department of Correction spokesman said at the time that the guards were found to have violated DOC policy.

State payroll records show the last time the men were paid while the investigation was ongoing was Oct. 18, 2014.

However, state payroll records show all three guards were reinstated in 2018 and continue to work for the Department of Correction today. Correction officers Howard and Raposo’s annual base pay rate is $77,555; Billadeau’s pay rate is $94,762 as a supervisor.

Attorney Alan McDonald, who represents the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union, which represents the officers, said the men filed a grievance after they were terminated, alleging the firings were not for just cause.

“There was insufficient evidence to hold them accountable for Mr. Messier’s passing,” McDonald said.

McDonald said the grievance was put on hold until the criminal charges were resolved, then processed after the men were acquitted. McDonald said the state was “unable to prove wrongdoing by them” that justified the firing, just as the court was unable to convict them.

McDonald said a standard remedy in a case of wrongful termination is to give the officers back pay for the time they were out of work, minus any unemployment compensation or interim earnings that they made during that time. That is what happened in this case.

Messier’s death — and other reports of problems, including the suicide of an inmate — led to major changes at Bridgewater State Hospital.

In 2017, Gov. Charlie Baker removed prison guards from the facility, replacing them with clinicians from a company that provides health care services in state psychiatric hospitals and prisons. The state agreed to separate civilly committed people from those serving prison sentences.

A legal settlement in 2014 had already led to the hospital limiting its use of restraints.

The state also paid Messier’s family $3 million to settle a civil lawsuit, the AP reported.