DOC employees seek probe of management practices

According to the Courant, union leaders representing the 5000 DOC employees sent a strongly worded letter to the governor and the AG, seeking an independent probe of management:

Written by three presidents of the AFSCME locals at the Connecticut
Corrections Employees union – Thomas Miles of Local 387, Jon Pepe of
Local 391 and Luke Leone of Local 1565 – the letter described a culture
at the agency that allows upper management and favoritism to influence
internal investigations of staff members.

"Our members are angry and fearful," the letter says. "They believe
that some staff have been targeted [or not] based on who they are, and
what relationships they have within the [Department of Correction]. …
Our members specifically are concerned that during these investigative
activities, exculpatory facts are omitted, distorted and in some cases
destroyed. They are concerned that [Department of Correction]
investigators, at the direction of upper management, have exceeded the
scope of their statutory authority while conducting investigations
outside prison walls."

This comes on the heels of an arbitrator ruling that a fired employee should get his job back.

A correction officer was fired in 2004 for allegedly being less than
truthful during that investigation but a state arbitrator ruled this
year the state fired him without just cause, claiming he had lied to
investigators but actually terminated him because of his involvement
with the Outlaws. The arbitrator also ruled the officer will get his
job back.