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Bruggeman v. State Civil Service Commission2/14/2001
ARGUED: December 7, 2000
Correctional Officers Terry M. Bruggeman (Bruggeman) and Donald Corley (Corley) petition this Court for review of the May 23, 2000 adjudications and orders of the State Civil Service Commission (Commission) dismissing their appeals which challenged the five-day suspension of each by the Department of Corrections (Department). Bruggeman and Corley were each employed as a Corrections Officer 1 at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon (SCI- Huntingdon). They were suspended from their jobs after an investigation into the August 2, 1999 escape of Norman Johnson, an inmate housed at SCI-Huntingdon. These two cases have been consolidated for disposition.
I.
Bruggeman and Corley were suspended for their failure to follow policies and procedures for a valid and proper count of inmates, specifically for failing to see flesh or movement of inmate Johnson during an official inmate count. Their statement of questions presented to this Court includes whether the Commission erred as a matter of law when it concluded that the record contained substantial evidence to support the Department's five-day suspensions and whether the Commission erred when it concluded that three other correctional officers referenced in the appeal (Smith, Justice and McCoy) were not similarly situated to Bruggeman and Corley inasmuch as the other officers were charged also with observing inmate flesh or movement during their inmate counts.
Bruggeman and Corley were assigned to work the 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. shift from August 1 to August 2, 1999 at the Restricted Housing Unit (RHU) at SCI-Huntingdon. According to post orders in place at the facility, correctional officers on duty during that shift were required to conduct official counts of inmates at 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. Post orders are guidelines for correctional officers assigned to a particular job that provide information on procedures to be performed, general practices to be followed and specific and special routines germane to a particular post. The officer conducting the official count was required to count each inmate in the section and record the number on an official ticket, which the officer was required to sign and turn over to the block sergeant. Correctional officers were instructed during basic training that they must see inmate flesh or movement when counting each inmate as present in his cell. In addition to inmate counts, the post orders required the correctional officers to conduct tier checks of the facility at irregular intervals.
Bruggeman signed a count ticket indicating that he conducted the 1:00 a.m. inmate count on August 2, 1999 although he had actually conducted the count at 10:00 p.m., three hours earlier than its scheduled time. No inmate count was actually conducted at 1:00 a.m. Corley conducted a tier check at 1:00 a.m. and the 5:00 a.m. inmate count. Johnson was housed within G block of the RHU where Bruggeman and Corley were working. The inmate escaped on the morning of August 2, 1999. Following an investigation, the Department filed disciplinary charges against Bruggemen and Corley and another correctional officer.
Bruggeman and Corley were afforded the opportunity to rebut the charges against them at pre-disciplinary conferences held on September 15 and September 23, 1999. Thereafter, the Department sent letters dated October 27, 1999 notifying each officer that he would be suspended for five days. Bruggeman and Corley appealed pursuant to Sections 951(a) and (b) of the Civil Service Act (Act) seeking reinstatement of time lost for the suspension, restitution of lost wages and purging of the incident from their personnel files. Both officers allege
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