Ex-security guard sues The William W. Backus Hospital, cites unsafe environment
NORWICH CT March 1 2018 – A former security guard is suing The William W. Backus Hospital, claiming he was forced to resign after management ignored his complaints about safety conditions.
Charles Dickinson, of East Hampton, who worked for the hospital from March 2014 until June 2016, said in his lawsuit that his resignation amounts to wrongful termination. Dickinson said he resigned after his supervisor, Andrew Ellis, and hospital administration did not address his safety concerns.
According to the complaint, Dickinson said he “witnessed multiple patients come lose [sic] from ineffective nylon Velcro restraints. Mr. Dickinson and other security guards would constantly have to come back and re-restrain patients. When Mr. Dickinson requested newer and more effective restraints, this request was denied.”
Dickinson is seeking at least $15,000 in damages.
A hospital spokesman did not return a request for comment on Tuesday.
The case was filed in Middletown Superior Court in July 2017 and moved to U.S. District Court on Friday. Dickinson is being represented by James F. Sullivan of Howard, Kohn, Sprague & Fitzgerald in Hartford. Backus is represented by David Jimenez and Sally Welsh St. Onge of Jackson Lewis in Hartford.
According to his complaint, Dickinson was transferred from the main hospital to the Backus Outpatient Care Center in April 2016. Dickinson alleges he witnessed several incidents that “called into question his own safety, and the safety of others around him.”
Dickinson said he and another guard were attacked when a psychiatric patient jumped over a nurses’ station. He later requested supervisors place dividers at the station, but the suggestion was ignored, the complaint said.
On another occasion, the document says, supervisors ignored Dickinson’s request for equipment, such as a clear acrylic riot shield to prevent contact with “out-of-control patients” to help reduce injuries among guards and staff. The document says he also requested, and was denied, PR-24 collapsible control batons.
According to the lawsuit, employees reported injuries roughly every week.
Dickinson also alleges he was ordered to perform duties outside his job description, such as monitoring the gift shop while volunteers stepped away and holding down children who were getting blood drawn.
Dickinson also said nothing was done after he complained that a liquid oxygen tank was leaking.
The lawsuit said Dickinson became “increasingly uncomfortable” in his position as a security guard due to the lack of changes, and “continued requests” to perform duties outside of his job description. Dickinson said he had “no choice but to resign” as a result, and believes his employment was “constructively terminated.”
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