Jail picks at tactics in lawsuit
CCA accuses a law firm of pressing its case in the news media to assure a substantial award - a claim it denies.
By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published March 23, 2006
INVERNESS - The president and chief executive of the private company that runs the Citrus County jail has accused a local law firm of using media coverage to push for a larger lawsuit settlement.
In a March 16 letter to County Administrator Richard Wesch, Corrections Corporation of America CEO John D. Ferguson said it was "not appropriate" to defend itself through news conferences and media statements.
He accused Inverness lawyers Bill Grant and Bo Samargya of using the news media to pressure the company, calling the lawyers' actions "overt efforts to influence a larger settlement outcome or award through media coverage."
Grant called the statement "asinine."
"(CCA's) all over the place," he said. "I just like sitting around watching them squirm. I can't believe it."
The news of the latest barb between CCA and the lawyers came on the day Grant announced a fifth plaintiff in a federal suit against the company.
Matthew Pavlisin, who was a teen when he was held at the facility on charges of armed burglary and theft, was abused at the jail, Grant said.
March 10, Grant and Samargya filed a federal suit against CCA, claiming that four inmates had been forced to drink liquid contaminated with human urine and eat food that contained fecal matter.
Javon Walker, Jeffrey Young, Larry Robbins and Greg Platt claim that at least two corrections officers urinated and defecated in their food and drink several times at the jail in 2004. Grant plans to file an amended complaint, naming Pavlisin and others, in coming weeks.
"(CCA) can cast whatever aspersions they want," Grant said. "The outcome of this is going to be decided in a federal courthouse."
Grant will also file a wrongful termination suit on behalf of Charles Mulligan, a supervisor at the facility fired in connection with the drink accusations, he said. Two former employees at the Citrus jail, correctional officers Kevin Hessler and Alexander Diaz, were also fired because of the accusations.
Since the lawsuit was filed, both sides have talked with news reporters about the allegations. Grant says the company knew about the contamination and failed to do anything, including providing medical testing, for the inmates. CCA representatives have questioned Grant's motives, suggesting he's demanding large amounts of money from the company.
In the letter to Wesch, CCA also called the claims of torture and abuse "pure fabrication."
Grant said he doesn't buy it.
"I guess p---ing and p---ing in someone's food is not abuse or torture. ... We've been saying the same thing over time. We're not the ones scrambling about like a cockroach when the light comes on," he said.
Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 860-7312 or vansickle@sptimes.com