By Patrick Marley
Journal Sentinel
STANLEY — Nine months after a prisoner beat her unconscious and scarred her psychologically, correctional Sgt. Carrie Seichter in January learned she would no longer receive payments available to public safety workers hurt on the job.
Seichter had been spared worse injuries because two inmates helped stop the assault, but she was still unable to return to work. Most of her physical wounds had healed, but Seichter - diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from the assault - continued to be haunted by anxiety. At home, she also worried about conflicting messages from the state about whether she would lose her job.
The same day she got the call about losing her medical-leave payments, Corrections Secretary Ed Wall sent an email to his staff of 10,000 to reassure them that he took officer assaults seriously.
The emotional trauma of an assault can be more damaging than physical wounds, Wall wrote, adding that in serious cases he or his top aides visit injured officers in the hospital. “The message being that we need to treat this organization more like a family and less like a bureaucratic coffee grinder,” Wall wrote. “The way that gets done is by demonstrating that management does care and be willing to show that.”
Seichter said she feels like she has been “discarded” by the Department of Corrections and was struck by the irony of Wall’s message coming the same day as the medical-leave decision.
“I couldn’t formulate the words,” she said in a recent interview.
Full story: Wisconsin prison guard injured by inmate feels discarded by state