By Kathleen E. Carey
Daily Times, Primos, Pa.
PRIMOS, Pa. — Delaware County officials had a “hit list” with up to 68 individuals to be let go at the George W. Correctional Facility when it retook operations in April 2022, according to the attorney representing 13 former prison employees in the federal civil action against the county.
Filed last week in U.S. District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania, Kwaning v. Delaware County has a group of 13 former correctional facility officers suing Delaware County; the Jail Oversight Board; the George W. Hill Correctional Facility; County Councilman and Jail Oversight Board Chair Kevin Madden; Warden Laura Williams; and Cheyenne Marquette, George W. Hill’s human resources manager.
The 13 are Frank Kwaning, Ashhley Gwaku, Kenneth Demonfonte, Najah Branham, Ian Lofton, Morris Maanneh, Abdoul Diallo, Dejah Henry, Malverna Hymann, Komla Amouzou, Francisca Veney, Nathaniel Savage and Charles Sevor.
They all are or were members of the Delaware County Prison Employees Independent Union.
They are seeking an unspecified amount of damages in claims that they were employees at the prison who were forfeited their right to due process when they were let go of their jobs there when the county reassumed operations in April 2022.
Through its spokesperson, Delaware County declined to comment on the matter because it’s ongoing litigation.
“The warden basically set her criteria, as I interpret what happened, as to how can I get rid of certain people including the union president and union vice president,” Timothy J. Prol, the attorney representing the group of former employees, said. “But, they were all in good standing.”
Prol said a letter went out to 68 employees, some union and some not, on March 29, 2022, that informed them they were not being rehired by Delaware County at the prison.
At the time, Delaware County was in the midst of retaking control and operations of the prison from the GEO Group after 24 years of private operation. GEO employed 308 corrections officers at the time of the transfer.
The suit stated that a county official “prepared a list of individuals which amounted to a ‘hit list’ which included Plaintiffs, and in particular Plaintiffs Gwaku and Kwaning, singling those individuals out with regard to Defendants terminating the without due process.”
Prol explained that the GEO Group had an existing contract with the Delaware County Prison Employees Independent Union that did state it expired if they no longer operate the prison.
However, the attorney said Pennsylvania has a status quo doctrine.
“If a contract expires, ... the terms and conditions are frozen and you negotiate a new contract,” Prol said, meaning all the provisions, including due process, would have been intact until a new collective bargaining agreement was reached between the union and the county.
He said county officials told the 68 individuals that they had their own internal process to determine who was not returning. He noted among them were the union president, Frank Kwaning, and union vice president, Ashhley Gwaku.
“People, to some extent, are savvy enough to try to work around the laws that protect people,” Prol said. “When something doesn’t make sense based on logic I then look to what is the probable intent.”
The suit itself stated that the warden “systematically targeted roughly sixty-eight (68) individuals who they terminated absent any notice, hearing, charge, or due process whatsoever.” It also stated that all of these employees were in good standing.
He and the court documents said that Kwaning and Gwaku were prohibited from representing union members in administrative processes from April 2022 through August 2023 .
“From the time that all these 68 people were terminated basically by not being hired by the county, they were prohibited from setting foot on jail property,” Prol said, adding that there was a list at the prison gate with the names of people forbidden to enter.
” Frank (Kwaning) and Ashhley (Gwaku) were union reps,” their attorney said. “They were prohibited from representing members. Those members’ Weingarten Rights were violated Frank and Ashley’s rights were violated. The management cant determine how the union does some things.”
He also spoke about Kwaning.
“Kwaning is the best example,” Prol said. “He was a 14-year veteran of the force.”
The attorney said the only discipline the former correctional officer had was a 10-day suspension for accidentally bringing an Excedrin with him to work because of headaches when GEO Group’s operations was coming to an end.
“It’s a rules and regulations violation but they moved to terminate him,” Prol said, adding that throughout the process the move to terminate was downgraded to a 10-day suspension. “He was in full good standing ... It’s not something you want to encourage but it’s a relatively minor offense.”
Prol said for public employees in general, there is a process of progressive discipline for regular matters that are not egregious in nature. The actions start out with addressing the infractions with minor actions that escalate to termination, not starting with termination for minor offenses.
The suit claimed that Madden and by extension, the Jail Oversight Board and Delaware County , were aware of the warden’s conduct in terminating these employees. It also noted a lack of training and policies to address the prison staffing transition from GEO to the county, as well as labor-management relations, due process or progressive discipline.
The court document also states that prison officials failed and refused to collect union dues from union members’ paychecks.
Prol said his clients want one thing.
“They are looking for justice,” he said. “That means that they’re given the due process rights, that that means they are reinstated, whatever the courts determine ... They just want justice.”
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial, as well as punitive damages and associated costs.
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