LANSING — A Michigan Department of Corrections employee has been placed on “stop order,” and is suspended with pay, as an investigation continues into allegations that inmates at the women’s prison were ordered out of their beds in the middle of the night, told to clean the chow hall floor, and threatened with solitary confinement if they refused, a department spokeswoman said June 5.
MDOC spokeswoman Jenni Riehle said separate investigations continue into both the overnight work assignments at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility near Ypsilanti and two recent sudden deaths at the women’s prison that have alarmed state lawmakers.
“MDOC is committed to holding department staff accountable for any work rule violations,” and one employee is suspended pending completion of the investigation, Riehle said in an email to the Detroit Free Press. Also, though asking work crews to conduct cleaning and other assignments outside of the standard 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule is not uncommon, “any special assignments taking place on third shift at the facility have been paused until the investigation is complete and any process improvements can be made,” she said.
Sudden deaths at women’s prison
Rebecca Fackler, 57, died May 17 at the state’s only women’s prison and an investigation into the cause of her death continued June 5.
Fackler’s death came just four days after the death of 28-year-old inmate Khaira Howard, and as the prison was under intense scrutiny over living conditions at the facility, which has a history of overcrowding, illicit drugs, leaking roofs, violence, and complaints about poor ventilation and toxic mold.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered swift and transparent investigations into both deaths.
“The results of the autopsy reviews will be provided to the public once they are completed by the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner’s Office,” Riehle said. “The department has asked the medical examiner to expedite those results as much as possible.”
Women ordered out of bed
Officers at the prison for women organized crews of women to work overnight stripping, cleaning, waxing and buffing the chow hall floor, three nights in a row, from May 21 to 23, heightening expectations among inmates that inspections or high-level visits are pending.
Several of the women recruited had regular early-morning jobs or classes that they were still expected to show up for, and women were told they would be sent to solitary confinement if they didn’t perform the apparently urgent work until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., inmates Brandy Jensen, Sharon Zachary, and Kelsey Brennan told the Detroit Free Press in separate phone calls May 22.
“If they had of just asked us to do it, we would have been willing,” said Brennan, who said she has suffered from chronic ear infections since she was sent to Women’s Huron Valley.
“We’re not their slaves.”
Riehle said “the allegation that an employee acted in a manner that could be a violation of work rules is being investigated.”
MDOC Director under fire
Heidi Washington, the department director since 2015, has been under fire over the sudden deaths and other issues and has been working from the women’s prison instead of her Lansing office, officials said.
Thirty state lawmakers from both political parties signed a May 21 letter calling for Washington to resign, citing “a pattern of denial, dishonesty, obfuscation, and obstruction” under her leadership.
Whitmer said any such action would be premature until investigations are completed.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MDOC employee at women’s prison suspended amid ongoing investigations
Reporting by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
