Former prison guards settle abuse lawsuit against FDC

Three former correctional officers who were fired after complaining about physical abuse at the Florida Department of Corrections training academy in Wakulla County have settled a lawsuit against the agency for more than $300,000.

Robert Wagner, a former correctional officer, Shannon Feltcher and Sandra Braswell-Allen, who were both correctional officers in training, sued FDC in 2014, alleging they experienced retaliation, discrimination and assault and battery during their time at the academy.

The three plaintiffs notified the court just days before a trial was to begin on Aug. 10 that the parties had settled, according to Leon Circuit Court records. The settlement hasn't been signed yet, according to FDC officials, though that's expected to happen in the near future.

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According to the lawsuit, Wagner said he'd “never witnessed anything like what he experienced” at the facility. Wagner, who'd been in law enforcement nearly 20 years, began training at the academy in August 2013.

“The trainees were pushed far beyond their abilities and placed at risk of injuring themselves and did sustain grievous injuries,” the complaint said. “Inexperienced people were flipping each other and throwing them down during Defensive Tactics training. The recruits ... were all put under the stress of being terminated, which kept them quiet about the manner in which the academy was being operated.”

Recruits were kneed in the thighs and practiced blocking punches for two to three minutes at a time without stopping, according to the lawsuit.

Wagner and others were injured during training, but when Wagner complained, the academy director told him he was faking his injuries. The director “delighted over the control he had over the recruits and injuries inflicted on them," the lawsuit said.

Fletcher said she was treated differently than her male counterparts during training. She said she was required to repeat training techniques under threat of failing. During the exercises in October 2013, she and her partner were told to hit full force without padding and to put a choke hold on each other.

She heard a pop in her chest during the exercise and had difficulty breathing, according to the complaint. X-rays revealed she had a possible hairline fracture on her chest wall. She was terminated in January 2014 after she reported the incident to FDC’s inspector general’s office, which conducted an internal investigation.

Braswell-Allen was forced to repeat training techniques that she was doing correctly “and was also physically assaulted and abused during this training,” according to the lawsuit.

She was placed on light duty at Franklin Correctional Institution after filing a claim for compensation but was mistreated daily after her supervisors learned she’d reported the abuse at the academy. She was fired in July 2014.

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or follow @KarlEtters on Twitter.