SUNBURY -- Northumberland County will settle a lawsuit for $150,000 with a former prison guard who claimed he was fired because he was a whistle-blower.
Following the advice of the county's insurance carrier, the prison board voted 4-2 Wednesday to recommend that the board of commissioners settle with former guard Christopher Guise, of Marion Heights.
Prison board solicitor Todd Kerstetter said if the county doesn't agree to the settlement, it could run the risk of paying more if a judge ruled in favor of Guise. By consenting, the insurance carrier -- Scottsdale Insurance -- will pick up the tab. If the case went to trial, anything above $150,000 would come out of the county's general fund.
"So there's a significant risk if we don't go along," Kerstetter said. "Nobody on the prison board wants to give Mr. Guise the time. But this is a business decision."
The commissioners still need to approve the settlement. Two of the three commissioners, Frank Sawicki and Vinny Clausi, voted in favor of it at the prison board meeting, while Commissioner Kurt Masser voted against the settlement.
"With it being ongoing litigation, I don't want to comment further," Masser said when asked to explain his vote.
Sheriff Chad Reiner also voted against accepting the settlement, saying, "I voted no' because I don't feel (Guise) deserved to get anything from the county ... I don't feel we had any wrongdoing."
President Judge Robert Sacavage and District Attorney Anthony Rosini voted "yes." Controller Chuck Erdman did not attend Wednesday's prison board meeting.
In Guise's lawsuit, filed two years ago in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, he accused the county of firing him in October 2004 because he tried to expose the prison's "corrupt policies and unfair treatment of the inmates."
In the lawsuit, he said he witnessed inmates being shackled to beds, denied the right to call their attorneys and denied medical treatment. Guise said he would encourage inmates to contact the Lewisburg Prison Project because of improper treatment and filed grievances against Warden Ralph Reish and the prison board when he noticed inmates' rights being violated.
Guise was charged with assaulting an inmate in April 2004, but the charge was withdrawn the next month.
The county, prison board, individual members of the prison board and the warden were all named as defendants in Guise's suit. Guise's wife, Penny, was also listed as a plaintiff.
Guise did not return a phone call seeking comment.
n E-mail comments to rscott@dailyitem.com.
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County will settle lawsuit for $150,000
Ex-prison guard to collect
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