By C1 Staff
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A correctional officer and Marine veteran is suing his supervisors and coworkers for treating his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a joke.
Courthouse News reports that Christopher Fustos was honorably discharged from the Marines after an exploding hand grenade injured him, leaving him with numerous scars on his back.
Fustos was hired by Knox County, Tenn., on March 26, 2012, as a correctional officer. He says the harassment began two years later when a fellow officer yelled, “So Fustos, those scars on your back, are they direction arrows for your boyfriend so he knows where to stick it?”
This comment was met by cheers and laughter from other officers.
Another incident described in Fustos’ suit was when “co-workers took facility-provided gloves, and popped them loudly behind Mr. Fustos’ ears, stating, ‘Hey, I’m helping you with your PTSD! It’s therapy for you!!’”
Fustos said another coworker made the comment, “Hey Fustos, when your PTSD kicks in and you shoot up the place, remember who was nice to you and who gives you time off!”
When he reported these incidents, Fustos says he was retaliated against by supervisors. One punishment was the loss of his cellphone in restricted areas, which he’d been allowed to hang on to in order to keep in touch with his diabetic daughter.
Eventually he wrote a letter to the Office of Professional Standards, outlining the harassment, but delayed sending it due to fear that the retaliation would grow.
“In December of 2014, Mr. Fustos took three (3) weeks of FMLA-protected leave, during which time he sought treatment from a psychiatrist at the VA Medical Center in Knoxville to cope with the severe emotional distress he was suffering from at work as a result of the harassment, discrimination, and retaliation to which he was subjected,” says Fustos’ suit.
Upon his return, Fustos was disciplined for an incident involving an inmate, but Fustos says he was disciplined more harshly than the other officers involved. He was transferred to Work Release, where he has virtually no contact with coworkers; he believes this transfer was retaliatory in nature.
He’s seeking $250,000 in compensatory damages, $500,000 for liquidated damages, $100,000 in exemplary damages and injunctive relief on claims of retaliation, disability discrimination, and military discrimination.