Former correctional officer receives payout after suing state department of corrections

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - A former correctional officer believes she was fired because she complained about working conditions for women at a facility in Dorchester County. She sued over her concerns and received a payout.

Monica Wright of Dorchester County says the work environment was dangerous for women correctional officers at Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville. And according to a lawsuit she filed against the South Carolina Department of Corrections, when she complained, she was falsely accused of a crime and fired.

Wright started working at Lieber as a Correctional officer in August 2014. According to the lawsuit, two years later in October 2016, she sent a letter to the warden, outlining instances of sexual assault and intimidation, including rape, against the female staffers at the hands of the inmates.

Wright says her concerns were dismissed by the state department of corrections. Just three months after her complaint in January 2017, Wright says she was accused of furnishing contraband to a prisoner. She was arrested and fired the same day. In October 2017, the charge was dismissed. Wright says her arrest and termination were the result of retaliation for speaking up for women staff members at Lieber.

She sued the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and received a payout of $9,000, claiming physical and emotional trauma.

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