YOUNGSTOWN Panel mulls action on bias case against CCA

The board agreed to investigate a case of possible bad ambulance service.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city's human relations commissioners are pondering the next move in a discrimination case against the private prison.
A hearing officer has found no probable cause to support a former prison guard's bias claim against Corrections Corporation of America.
The city commission's executive director, William M. Carter, disagrees with the finding, however. He asked board members to first read a hearing transcript before deciding whether to pursue the case. The commission rarely pursues cases when no probable cause is determined.
The complaint: Anthony White, a black prison guard at CCA's private Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, filed his complaint in July 1999. White said he and another black officer were fired for using excessive force. A white officer also involved was not fired, he said, claiming race was the reason for the firings.
The hearing officer focused on the excessive-force issue, which wasn't the question, Carter said. Different treatment of the black and white employees was the real issue, he said.
Board members agreed to hold off on a decision until reading transcripts.
Carter questioned whether the board would prevail in court should members agree with him. The board has lost every CCA discrimination case it has taken to court, even when hearing officers have found probable cause.
Ambulance service: The board also agreed to investigate a case in which a man died and bad ambulance service could be an issue. Ambulance service constitutes a public accommodation and thus is part of the board's work, the city law department ruled.
Police were chasing burglary suspects early Dec. 26, 2000, when they found Joseph D. Morris in a home breathing heavily about 3 a.m. An ambulance crew said he was OK and left. Police called the crew back a few minutes later because the man didn't look good.
Crew members picked up Morris from the floor but let him fall, and he hit his head on a table leg, police said. Morris then was taken to the Mahoning County jail. He became ill while being booked and died about 10 a.m.