By Lisa Thompson
Erie Times-News
ALBION — A former psychiatrist at the State Correctional Institution at Albion has filed a lawsuit in Erie County Court charging that lax security at the prison caused her to be attacked and sexually assaulted by an inmate in September.
The doctor, who has not been able to return to work, is seeking damages for her lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering.
She was able to kick a phone off a desk amid the more-than-10-minute attack in her office and trigger a silent alarm. But she suffered injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, when the inmate, D’Rob Sanders, knocked her head against a cement wall, testimony at Sanders’ trial indicated.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the prison, the state Department of Corrections and the state.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Susan McNaughton said Wednesday the department had no comment.
She previously said that in the wake of the attack, “prison employees have increased their efforts in the area of inmate accountability.”
The lawsuit stems from the attack on the doctor on Sept. 24.
The lawsuit says the doctor worked for MHM Services Inc. as an independent contractor, providing medical services to inmates at Albion, including psychiatric counseling and evaluation. She earned a salary of $200,000.
Sanders, 34, was a former patient of the doctor but was barred from seeing her after he exposed himself to her, according to earlier testimony.
On the day of the attack, Sanders, posing as another inmate who had an appointment with the doctor, managed to bypass two security checkpoints and enter the doctor’s office without providing the required photo identification.
The lawsuit charges that the prison negligently failed to provide a safe workplace for those who provided medical care to inmates. It says the prison failed to follow its own safety protocols and implement adequate protocols to require inmates to produce medical passes and proper identification to receive treatment from civilian employees.
The lawsuit also faults the prison for failing to have an adequate alarm and video surveillance system in place.
At the time of the attack, Sanders was serving an unrelated sentence of seven and one-half to 22 years for assault charges that originated in Allegheny and Cumberland counties.
An Erie County jury in April found Sanders guilty of attempted rape, aggravated assault, aggravated indecent assault, attempted sexual assault, simple assault, indecent assault, indecent exposure and a summary charge of harassment in connection with the doctor’s attack.
Sanders was sentenced in July to serve 23 1/2 to 50 more years in state prison.