Federal Appeals Court Upholds D.C. Guard’s Termination for Assaulting Prisoner
Federal Appeals Court Upholds D.C. Guard’s Termination for Assaulting Prisoner
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismissed the suit of a jail guard who was fired in 2006 after an investigation found that he had assaulted a handcuffed prisoner.
Emmette McCormick, Jr., was employed by the D.C. central detention facility as a supervisory guard. When about 100 prisoners were mistakenly released from their cells in early 2006, McCormick responded in an attempt to restore order and get the prisoners to go back in their cells. During the disturbance, prisoner Michael Tobias dumped a bucket of ice water on McCormick from a higher floor.
Tobias was cuffed and brought out to the sally port area of the jail where McCormick "confronted" him. The investigation ultimately determined that "McCormick struck Tobias across the right side of his face with an open hand at least once."
When the investigator's report made its way to the top of the chain of command, the deputy mayor of D.C., McCormick was terminated for displaying "a blatant disregard for the established guidelines for the use of force."
McCormick then filed suit in the superior court for the District of Columbia alleging that his firing was actually in retaliation for his whistleblowing activities more than a year earlier. The case was removed to federal district court where the pending summary judgment motions were argued. Entering judgment against McCormick and dismissing his suit, the district court found no evidence of retaliation and that the firing was justified.
In upholding this ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McCormick could not show that he was wrongfully terminated for retaliatory purposes because, as a matter of law, the one year lapse between the time of his whistleblowing and his termination was too long.
The court further found that regardless of whether McCormick actually struck Tobias or not, he was an at-will employee and the investigation found that he did commit an assault on a handcuffed prisoner, and the court was in no position to question these facts.
The court found that McCormick's dismissal was fully justified and affirmed the district court's ruling in all respects.
See: McCormick v. District of Columbia, 752 F.3d 980 (D.C. Cir., 2014).
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Related legal case
McCormick v. District of Columbia
| Year | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 752 F.3d 980 (D.C. Cir., 2014) |
| Level | Court of Appeals |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |
| Appeals Court Edition | F.3d |