By C1 Staff
LANCASTER COUNTY — A union representative is accusing the Lancaster County Prison board of double standards after they fired a correctional officer for lying about unpaid parking tickets but not firing supervisors who secretly audiotaped another officer.
Lancaster Online reports that the officer was fired for lying about warrants for unpaid tickets and violating the employee handbook and ethics code.
The officer also had a history of refusing “to conform his behavior to the standard expected of all correctional officers,” according to the county.
The union representative told the prison board that the fired officer was “held to a higher standard than supervisors,” referencing a supervisor activated a police collar camera during a disciplinary conference with a correctional officer in August without informing the officer that he was being recorded.
A second supervisor in the conference knew the discussion was being recorded.
The recording was discovered when another officer overheard it being played as he walked past a prison office. He reported the taping to county officials, and the supervisors later admitted to taping the officer without his knowledge.
No charges were brought against the supervisors because someone erased the tape, according to Lancaster Online. The prison temporarily stopped issuing the collar cameras after the secret taping came to light.
The prison is currently appealing an arbitrator’s ruling that the officer fired for parking tickets be allowed to return to work.