Brian Bowling
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
GREENSBURG, Pa. — The state paid a former Woods Run prison guard $50,000 to settle a federal lawsuit claiming he was unfairly suspended without pay in 2011 during an investigation of inmate abuse, according to a copy of the settlement released to the Tribune-Review under the Right to Know law.
Sean Storey, 28, of Mt. Washington sued Corrections Secretary John E. Wetzel, Deputy Secretary Shirley M. Smeal and former superintendents Daniel Burns and Melvin Lockett in January 2013, claiming they violated his due process rights. His attorney, Eric Stoltenberg, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The Department of Corrections suspended Storey on April 1, 2011, without telling him the reason or providing any means for him to appeal the decision, the lawsuit said. The agency denies any wrongdoing in the settlement.
Storey was one of seven guards the state charged criminally in November 2011, but Allegheny County prosecutors in April 2012 dropped the charges against him due to a lack of evidence.