Wash. prison guards who were fired after corrections officer slaying reinstated with back pay

SEATTLE — The Washington Department of Corrections was wrong to fire three corrections officers and demote a sergeant for their actions around the time a guard was killed in a prison chapel two years ago, an arbitrator has ruled.

Prison officials had accused the guards of misconduct, dereliction of duty and of purposely misleading investigators in the death of officer Jayme Biendl, who was strangled by a prisoner at the Monroe Correctional Complex.

In an award signed Sunday, arbitrator Michael Cavanaugh ruled in favor of an appeal from the Teamsters union. He ordered the reinstatement of the three officers and the sergeant with back pay and benefits. Three of the four should have been reprimanded, not fired or demoted, and the fourth should not have been disciplined at all, he said.

Cavanaugh noted that investigations by the state Department of Labor and Industries and the National Institute of Corrections found systemic problems in the prison's procedures and equipment, as well as a widespread culture of complacency among supervisors and managers.

"The arbitrator's ruling clearly demonstrates that the DOC imposed unfair discipline on its employees in the wake of this terrible tragedy," Tracey A. Thompson, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 117, said Tuesday in a written statement. "Instead of focusing on the underlying issues and the need for sweeping reform, DOC engaged in unfair finger pointing at the line corrections staff who risk their lives every day to keep our communities safe."

In a news release, the department said it was reviewing the arbitrator's decision and considering its options.

"We took disciplinary action because of the serious nature of the staff members' actions - including falsifying documents and lying to police investigators - which does not accurately represent the professionalism of our staff," the department said. "We can only be an effective agency if we hold ourselves accountable for our actions, which we did in this case."

Scherf told investigators he had been in the chapel and started to leave when the prisoners were ordered back to their cells. But then he stopped, told another inmate he had forgotten his hat, and went back inside, where Biendl was alone.

One officer, David Young, was fired for being outside his assigned zone, where he might have seen an inmate return to the chapel. But the arbitrator found it was common for Young and other guards to be outside their assigned zones, and he had never been officially reprimanded about it before. No discipline should have been taken against him, Cavanaugh said.

Officer George Lyons was fired for making a logbook entry indicating the chapel had been cleared of prisoners even though Biendl never gave an all-clear. The third, Charles Maynard, was fired for failing to properly inspect and secure the chapel when the prisoner accused in the killing was located. All three also were accused of giving inconsistent statements or lying to investigators, though Cavanaugh said there was no evidence of intentional dishonesty.

Sgt. Christopher Johnson was demoted for failing to take action after he became aware that Young was regularly outside his assigned zone.

Officers didn't find Biendl's body until about two hours after the attack. Biendl's radio sent out two brief signals about 15 seconds apart, including one that sounded like a screech and was unusual enough to catch the attention of several staff members, but officers didn't investigate.