Correctional officers file racial discrimination charges against Ramsey County jail

Eight correctional officers of color at the Ramsey County jail say they were barred from interacting with the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd when he was booked into the facility.

In discrimination charges filed with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, the correctional officers say they were reassigned or prevented from working in the unit where Derek Chauvin was held last month — against standard protocol — and replaced with white colleagues. They also allege Chauvin was given special treatment in his brief stay in the jail before being transferred to the state prison in Oak Park Heights.

“You can’t segregate and discriminate against employees of color because of the color of their skin,” said Minneapolis attorney Bonnie Smith, who is representing the correctional officers. “It’s outrageous.”  

The officers are maintaining anonymity out of fear of retaliation, Smith said. The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office issued a statement Sunday stating that the jail superintendent gave such an order to "protect" employees of color from additional trauma after the killing of Floyd — though Smith said that account differs from what she and the officers were previously told.

On May 29, guards who are people of color were reassigned or prevented from working in the jail’s segregation unit on the fifth floor when Chauvin was booked into the jail, according to the charges. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter for killing George Floyd in south Minneapolis on May 25; after briefly being held in the Ramsey County jail, he was transferred to the state prison at Oak Park Heights.

One of the guards who filed charges of discrimination said he was shocked that afternoon to find himself and other employees of color assigned to the third floor, rather than dispersed throughout the building as usual. 

A sergeant said in the charges that he was told that “minorities who were on the fifth floor were no longer permitted to have any contact" with Chauvin. He said in the charges that he confirmed with a lieutenant that there had been a policy change, and then attempted to console other employees of color, who felt the decision discredited their professionalism.  

“All were extremely upset and offended, and many were openly contemplating whether they wanted to keep working there,” according to an account in the charges. 

One of the charges includes an allegation that a white lieutenant at the jail was granted “special access” to Chauvin’s cell, and that a guard saw the lieutenant sit on Chauvin’s bed and let him use her cell phone. 

The charges say that correctional officers met with jail superintendent Steve Lydon, who officers said admitted to giving the order. According to Smith, the attorney, the guards said Lydon told them they were a “liability” because they could potentially trigger a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office. Lydon allegedly initially defended the decision to the guards, according to the charges, but later reversed it. 

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher met with correctional officers the week after the incident and defended the superintendent, according to the charges. 

Smith reported that a spokesperson for Fletcher initially told Reuters that there was “no truth to the report” that an order barred employees of color from guarding Chauvin — which further upset the eight officers. 

In a statement sent to MPR News on Sunday, Roy Magnuson, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said the office conducted an investigation of what happened at the jail. Lydon reportedly told those investigators he was trying “to support employees who may have been traumatized” by George Floyd’s killing by limiting their exposure to Chauvin. The sheriff’s office claims just three employees were affected.  

Smith said none of her clients were interviewed during the sheriff's office investigation. She also said the statement sent to media was the first time she heard that Lydon claimed to have made the decision to protect employees of color. 

Magnuson said Undersheriff Bill Finney is now heading up the jail, and that Lydon’s duties have been modified. Magnuson said Fletcher will review the situation before taking any further action. 

Smith said the officers want a formal apology, racism training for correctional employees and compensation for their emotional distress and lost earnings. Most of the officers argue that the staffing order was typical of the culture of Ramsey County, where they claim leaders “chronically fail to promote the interests of employees of color.” 

"Their priorities are to get some relief from the trauma and the stress that they suffered and to ensure that this never happens again," Smith said.

The county will now be allowed to respond to the discrimination charges filed with the state. After that, Smith said the Department of Human Rights will open an investigation to determine whether discrimination took place. 

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