State Liable for Understaffing in New York Prisoner Assault
State Liable for Understaffing in New York Prisoner Assault
A New York Court of Claims recently awarded $6,000 to a prisoner who was attacked and stabbed by another prisoner, finding that the state was liable for understaffing in the chow hall where the attack occurred.
On April 2, 2006, prisoner Eric Anderson was confined at the Wende Correctional Facility in Hauppauge, New York. He was eating breakfast in the mess hall with about thirty other prisoners when he was attacked and stabbed repeatedly in the neck by another prisoner with a sharpened toothbrush.
According to the claim, and not disputed by the state, a nearby guard saw the assailant take the toothbrush out of his sock, approach Anderson, and stab him in the neck and ear and did nothing to prevent the attack or Intervene.
Other than banging his baton on the table and yelling instructions to stop fighting, Sgt. J. Hendel admits he was standing only 5 to 6 feet from the attack, and did nothing else to stop it other than call for help on his radio.
According to the state, Hendel's actions were "proper, and he did exactly what any guard would do in a circumstance where they were alone and without assistance.
But the court found that the issue was not whether Hendel acted properly, but whether the state was negligent for not having more guards in the chow hall at the time of the attack.
"It is precisely the point that the initial failure by defendant to have an adequate number of personnel to manage and control such a crowd of inmates at mess hall cannot be used to bootstrap an argument In support of the appropriateness of the level of Hendel's response," the court wrote.
The court further found that the insufficient staffing was the proximate cause of the assault, and that the state should have known that so many prisoners with only one guard was a situation which "could and should have been avoided."
Anderson suffered cuts on his neck and ear that had to be sutured with liquid stitches. He will have a permanent scar on his neck, which the court noted was the main factor in determining that he was entitled to $6,000 in damages.
See: Anderson v. The State of New York (NY 6ourt of Claims) No. 2013-050-506, Claim No. 112563 (July 22, 2013).
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Related legal case
Anderson v. The State of New York
| Year | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Cite | (NY 6ourt of Claims) No. 2013-050-506, Claim No. 112563 (July 22, 2013) |
| Level | State Trial Court |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |
| Damages | 6,000.00 |