Sleepy halfway house monitor awarded $250,000
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A jury today ordered the state to pay $250,000 plus back pay to a black former halfway house monitor who was fired for falling asleep on the job while his white colleague was not disciplined for the same thing.
Thomas McClain, of Wilkins, now has the option of returning to his job of 15 years at Riverside Community Corrections Center, his attorney, Sam Cordes, said shortly after an eight-member federal civil jury made the award.
He said Mr. McClain also expects to get around $150,000 in back pay, in addition to the verdict amount.
He said the key to the four-day trial was the department's failure to explain why Mr. McClain was fired, while Roy Wyland, a white man who worked the same job on the same shift, was not disciplined when caught sleeping.
"What happened is, [the department] did nothing when they had evidence that the white guy was sleeping," Mr. Cordes said.
The attorney representing the department had said that the two men's circumstances were different.
First Published February 10, 2012 2:06 pm
