Nurses allege whistleblowing firing

INDIANAPOLIS – Six black nurses sued a private company operating a Marion County jail Monday, alleging they were fired or forced to leave their jobs because of racism or exposing medical practices that put inmates at risk.\nThe 10-count complaint alleges Corrections Corporation of America retaliated against the six because they had complained to their supervisors that inmates did not receive prescribed medications, were given wrong medications or were given other patients’ drugs to save money.\nThe complaint filed in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis also alleges Corrections Corporation created a racially hostile work environment in which one white supervisor wore clothing with a Confederate flag emblem and another white supervisor had a drawing in which black nurses were identified as “monkeys.”\nThe nurses also said they were forced to work in an unhealthy and dangerous work environment, including being ordered to escort dangerous inmates and having to walk through sewage with garbage bags on their feet when the plumbing in a restroom overflowed.\nThe lawsuit said the alleged actions occurred over the last two years.\nSteve Owen, a spokesman for Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation, said the company has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation except through court filings. He said Corrections Corporation had not yet been served with the complaint.\nCorrections Corporation has operated a jail annex for Marion County for more than 10 years. The 992-bed facility, which is separate from the Marion County Jail, houses inmates for both the county and the Indiana Department of Correction in dormitories and individual cells.\nCorrections Corporation claims to be the largest private prison company in the country, cities in 19 states and Washington, D.C.