Youth prison guard’s bonus revoked
Woman was falsely accused of sexual contact with inmate
MADISON - A prison guard who was groped by an inmate and then scrutinized for weeks over false allegations received a $2,500 bonus for exemplary work in May — only to have it abruptly taken away a week later.
The bonus was quietly withdrawn the same day the Department of Corrections announced it would take back merit pay that had been given to four other employees at the state’s juvenile prison complex who had been disciplined or sued in recent years.
At the time, Gov. Scott Walker’s administration did not acknowledge it was also withdrawing the bonus for Teri Jenson, who in October 2015 reported a teen inmate had brushed against her breasts and groin and then found herself the subject of an internal investigation into whether she had invited the groping. She hadn’t, but she was put on paid leave for five weeks while she was investigated.
The recent bonus was taken away because Jenson had received a written reprimand in 2016 — a fact officials were aware of when they awarded her the bonus in the first place.
Pulling back the bonus puts the state at risk of a retaliation lawsuit, said Jeff Hynes, president of the Wisconsin Employment Lawyers Association.
“Certainly, it’s a candidate for a retaliation claim.”
JEFF HYNES, LABOR ATTORNEY
“Certainly, it’s a candidate for a retaliation claim,” Hynes said. “It seems like they’re acting without getting appropriate legal counsel (at the Department of Corrections) and they’re acting in a hysterical manner.”
The revoked bonuses are the latest issue to churn turmoil at Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls, which share a campus north of Wausau.
The prison complex has been under criminal investigation for 21⁄2 years for prisoner abuse and child neglect.
Prison officials say any mistreatment of prisoners is in the past.
Jenson was one of about 4,500 state employees who received bonuses in May for doing exceptional work.
Also receiving the bonuses were a Lincoln Hills supervisor who was demoted last year for failing to properly oversee sexual assault investigations; a Lincoln Hills guard who had been disciplined for dragging a teen inmate across the floor in 2015; and two Lincoln Hills guards who were sued this year for their response to a 2015 suicide attempt that resulted in a teen inmate becoming severely brain damaged.
Shortly after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asked about why those four received bonuses, the Department of Corrections announced it would rescind them.
It also rescinded Jenson’s bonus, though it did not mention it at the time.
The Department of Corrections has not released details of Jenson’s 2016 discipline, but a source familiar with the matter said she received a written reprimand for repeating a racial slur an inmate had used.
Jenson declined to comment, but Doug Curtis, who retired from Lincoln Hills last year, said Jenson was a “dedicated, hard-working individual” who had been put through the wringer by Department of Corrections officials.
“It’s terribly unfair,” Curtis said. “You’re telling someone they did a good job and then slapping them in the face. We’re kind of used to that up there. It’s horribly unfair, but that’s the way they do business.”
The Department of Corrections has not said how it will recover the bonuses. It could ask the employees to pay it back immediately or deduct the money from future paychecks.
Hynes, the employment lawyer, questioned the ability of the Department of Corrections to take back any of the bonuses, given that the department was aware of the employees’ past actions when it determined they qualified for them.
“It seems they are open to attack from all sides,” Hynes said. “Lawyers will take a real interest in this workplace.”
Victim investigated
The revoked bonus comes a year and a half after Jenson was subjected to a lengthy internal investigation.
Jenson was overseeing recreation time at the prison in October 2015 when inmate Christopher Rayford, then 17, brushed against her breasts.
A few hours later, he brushed his hand across her thighs and pubic area, according to an account she gave internal investigators.
That evening, 10 or more inmates taunted Jenson for an hour, asking if she enjoyed being touched by Rayford. Top prison officials told her they would report it to law enforcement and that she was not allowed to report it on her own, according to her account.
The prison’s superintendent at the time, John Ourada, waited nine days before sending a report on the incident to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department. Additional paperwork was not provided to law enforcement until after Jenson reported the crime herself.
Jenson was put on paid leave about two months later when inmates falsely claimed she had invited them to touch her sexually. The internal investigation ended in January 2016, after Jenson provided investigators with a report showing an inmate had threatened to get another employee fired by making up similar charges.
Later that month, prosecutors charged Rayford with fourth-degree sexual assault. Under a plea deal this year, Rayford pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was given 12 months of probation, court records show.