Pubdate: Sat, 12 Jun 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact:  http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author: MARK ARAX, Los Angeles Times

PRISON WHISTLEBLOWER SUIT IS SETTLED FOR $17 MILLION

FRESNO -- California has agreed to pay $1.7 million to whistleblower
Richard Caruso, a former guard at Corcoran State Prison who broke the
code of silence and exposed a pattern of deadly shootings of inmates,
only to lose his career.

The settlement came together late Wednesday after months of
negotiation in which top officials, including Gov. Gray Davis, had
urged a resolution of Caruso's five-year ordeal.

``The nightmare is finally over,'' Caruso said. ``Now I can take care
of my family.''

Caruso, 35, had sued the state, alleging that prison officials created
a hostile work environment and effectively forced him to retire. He
said they did this after he and another officer went to the FBI with
evidence of set-up fights and shootings at the San Joaquin Valley
prison near Fresno.

Caruso and Lt. Steve Rigg were vilified by the prison guard union and
investigated by top corrections officials when they went public with
their allegations in 1996.

With Wednesday's settlement, California taxpayers have now paid nearly
$5 million in damage awards for abuses at Corcoran, where 50 inmates
were wounded or killed by guards firing assault rifles to stop inmate
fights.

``The settlement is welcome news for the individuals involved in the
lawsuits and for the taxpayers,'' said Cal Terhune, director of state
corrections. ``A protracted civil trial would have resulted in even
higher expenses.''

In legislative hearings last summer, Caruso, Rigg and other officers
had testified that their attempts to draw attention to wrongful inmate
shooting deaths at Corcoran were ignored at the highest levels of the
corrections department, then headed by Director James Gomez and two
assistants, Eddie Myers and David Tristan.

With nowhere else to turn, the officers said, they went to the FBI and
the media and were met with intimidation and death threats from fellow
officers and supervisors.

Rather than investigate the shootings, testimony showed, Myers and
other officials ordered that Rigg and Caruso be investigated for
alleged wrongdoing. Rigg, who was also forced to retire, has filed a
similar lawsuit that is still pending.

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