Black Michigan prison officer: I was demoted after reporting co-worker's use of 'N' word

Paul Egan | Detroit Free Press

LANSING – A black Michigan prison lieutenant says officials demoted him and otherwise made his life hell after he complained about a co-worker calling him the "N" word.

Michael Doss, who works at Parnall Correctional Facility near Jackson, filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court on Thursday against the Michigan Department of Corrections and Capt. Frank Sawyer.

Doss alleges unlawful discrimination by the department and aggressive retaliation once he complained about it.

The allegations fit a familiar pattern in lawsuits and civil service actions involving the Corrections Department — allegations that have been upheld in several other recent cases involving racial or gender discrimination, through judicial opinions, jury awards and findings by civil service hearings officers.

Doss, who has worked at the department for 13 years, alleges in the lawsuit he was "rapidly climbing up the employment ladder" at Parnall, and was working as a captain in 2017 and being assigned extra responsibilities by Deputy Warden Lee McRoberts, when he learned about a conversation at the prison Christmas party that would drastically alter his career path.

Doss was told that McRoberts, who is white, was seated at the party at a table with Sawyer and another white captain and mentioned that he had an upcoming interview for a warden's position at another prison.

"You can't go anywhere," Sawyer allegedly told McRoberts. "I don't want a (N word) for a boss."

Sawyer's alleged comment was based on his assumption that if McRoberts left Parnall, Doss would be chosen from among the captains for promotion to deputy warden, according to the suit.

Doss was told that McRoberts then told Sawyer: "Frank, you can't say that," but took no action.

More: Jury awards husband and wife prison employees $11.4M in racial discrimination case

Doss alleges that after learning about the conversation, he confirmed it with McRoberts and told McRoberts he planned to report the racial slur as a violation of the department's discriminatory harassment policy.

From then on, his life at work changed dramatically, Doss alleges. Since then, he has been demoted from captain to lieutenant, overlooked for promotions and "subjected to a culture of racism that has been ignored, cultivated, and/or perpetrated" by the department and its employees, "including co-workers, secretaries, supervisors, and other individuals in management."

"As soon as he rocked the boat ... he was retaliated against," said Jonathan Marko, a St. Clair Shores attorney representing Doss.

Chris Gautz, a Corrections Department spokesman, said the department has not yet been served with the lawsuit and "cannot comment on the specifics." He said some of the claims referenced in the complaint are under investigation by internal affairs.

"The department takes this claim seriously," Gautz said. "All MDOC employees deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and should be treated fairly. Retaliation is not tolerated in this department and all claims of such are investigated with the utmost seriousness."

Sawyer and McRoberts, who is not a defendant in the case, did not respond to Friday emails seeking comment.

More: Gay corrections officer settles lawsuit against Michigan prison agency

Doss says in the lawsuit that his complaint was investigated and upheld, with Sawyer admitting to making the remark and receiving a five-day suspension, which "he laughed and bragged about to other MDOC staff members," saying he would use vacation days to cover the suspension and "drink a beer for each day."

But co-workers previously friendly to Doss turned cold, and ostracized him, calling him a "rat" and a "snitch," the lawsuit alleges. "McRoberts began treating him as an outcast, socially and professionally," excluding him from work-related meetings and decisions.

The suit alleges that:

On Feb. 19, 2018, Doss says he was demoted from captain to lieutenant, with a "reduction in force" cited as the reason.

On April 3, 2018, McRoberts placed a negative "counseling" report in Doss' personnel file — the first he had ever received — after a subordinate was late turning in a report.

On Feb. 13, 2019, Doss was notified that he was under investigation for using a department copying machine to copy a one-page document he wanted to use in support of a grievance he had filed.

Doss says McRoberts was not investigated for failing to report the slur — also a violation of department policy.

Sawyer is a defendant in a separate pending lawsuit, filed in federal court in July against the department. In that case, an Arab American corrections officer at Parnall, Hizam Yehia, alleges widespread racial discrimination and harassment by department officials, including Sawyer. Yehia alleges that on one occasion Sawyer told him he would never visit the Middle East because "they" beat their women, have sex with goats, blow themselves up and women cover their faces "like ninjas."

The department and Sawyer generally denied Yehia's allegations in an August court filing.

In 2018, a civil service hearings officer cleared and reinstated two fired resident unit managers at Cotton Correctional Facility near Jackson, including one who had filed a 2015 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the department for disparate treatment of employees. The hearing officer, Matthew Wyman, said the charges brought against Brent Rohrig and Vicki McCabe for alleged work rule violations were “the essense of disparate, arbitrary, disproportionate discipline.”

The Free Press ran a series of stories in April 2018 in which current and former female employees of the department complained of retaliation after they complained about sexual harassment.

And in 2019 alone, the Free Press has reported on four separate judgments or settlements totaling more than $13 million arising from cases in which current or former Corrections Department employees have alleged racial or sexual discrimination and/or retaliation.

Department Director Heidi Washington said in an email to employees at the time of the Free Press series on sexual harassment and retaliation that the department will not tolerate discrimination or harassment in any form and encouraged employees to report such cases without fear of retribution.

Marko, who represents both Doss and Yehia, said Thursday he believes the department only pays "lip service" to the issue and has not confronted it or tried to curb it in any meaningful way.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.