CO Alleges Vandalism, Threats
Claim Reprisal for Tour Beef

By REUVEN BLAU

Correction Officer Vera Givens claims retaliation by her supervisors started after she asked to remain on a day tour following her switch to the city's floating jail barge in The Bronx in 2006.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang RETALIATION WRECK?: Correction Officer Vera Givens claims her supervisors retaliated against her after she asked to remain on the day tour following her transfer to the Vernon C. Bain Center. The dispute escalated when she discovered the back window of her car in the jail's secure lot had been smashed in.

Officer Givens sought the transfer to the Vernon C. Bain Center (VCBC) after moving into a home near Orange County, which extended her commute to 2-1/2 hours from her prior work location at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island.

'They Refused to Help'

On the job since 2001, she was granted a "reasonable accommodation" after she injured her right knee and foot when she slipped on the stairs in her house in 2004. That adjustment allowed her to work the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. tour, enabling her to attend physical therapy and take medication after work that made her drowsy.

But her supervisors at the VCBC denied her renewed application for a reasonable accommodation, despite the department's own Health Management Division staff signing off. "It should have just carried over," Ms. Givens argued during an interview last week. "They just refused to help, so it got to the point where I had to file a complaint."

That grievance angered her bosses, who then started randomly changing her assigned tours, according to Officer Givens. "I couldn't go to physical therapy," she added, noting that she was forced to take time off from work. "It began to be a chronic situation."

The dispute escalated on Dec. 5, 2007, after she discovered that the back window of her Toyota RAV 4 parked in the jail's secure lot had been smashed in.

'Feared for My Life'

"After that happened, I didn't come to work for three days," she said. "I was in fear for my own life."

The matter is being reviewed by the Correction Department Investigations Office. A department source last week claimed the damage was caused by wind.

Stephen Morello, a department spokesman, declined to comment, noting the ongoing investigation and pending complaints.

Officer Givens returned to work after three days, following a meeting with Chandra Lasonde, the financial secretary of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association. According to Ms. Givens, Ms. Lasonde promised to speak to the commanding officer at the facility and also vowed that she would be granted the hardship and transferred to another Bronx jail.

COBA President Norman Seabrook maintained the union "did everything possible" to assist Officer Givens, including helping her obtain a temporary hardship detail. But she did not successfully complete the 30-day hardship assignment and was administratively transferred before she could receive a steady 7 to 3 tour, he added.

Threatened Upon Return

Ms. Givens returned to work on Dec. 11, 2007, but several days later she claimed that a Correction Captain threatened her. "That prompted me to go out on stress because I was afraid for my life," she said last week. "They made it impossible for me to work like a human being."

She has since filed complaints with the department's Equal Employment Opportunity Office and the city's Human Rights Commission, contending that her rights have been violated.

Kasun Jenkins, a COBA delegate who has announced his intentions to run against Mr. Seabrook, has championed Ms. Givens's case. "It's like the department is all ganging up on her," he asserted.

Mr. Seabrook charged that Mr. Jenkins "distorted the facts" of the case and was using Ms. Givens as a blatant political ploy.