Judge Dismisses Lawsuit by Prison Whistle-Blower

A federal court judge has dismissed a civil rights lawsuit by one of the main whistle-blowers in the Corcoran prison scandal, rejecting a former guard’s claims that he was retaliated against after exposing brutality and a cover-up inside the prison.

U.S. District Judge David Levi granted the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit Tuesday, ruling that former Lt. Steve Rigg had failed to show any evidence that top corrections officials created a hostile work environment in 1994.

Rigg had claimed that after taking his allegations of brutality to the FBI, Corcoran’s then-Warden George Smith issued thinly veiled threats against him and other whistle-blowers. Rigg said a pattern of harassment followed Smith’s threats and were directed at him and his wife, who also worked as a guard. The harassment included vandalism to his home and car and threatening phone calls. Rigg said that he sought relief by complaining to top corrections officials in Sacramento, including Corrections Director Thomas Maddock and his successor, Jim Gomez, and Deputy Director Eddie Myers. But the complaints fell on deaf ears, he alleged.

Judge Levi rejected those claims outright, saying that the officials were protected by qualified immunity and that Rigg had failed to provide any evidence that they failed to respond to his complaints. Indeed, Rigg was granted a job change to High Desert State Prison in Susanville after he filed complaints of a hostile work environment at Corcoran, which is in the San Joaquin Valley near Fresno.

“The plaintiffs have produced no evidence of any pattern or practice implemented by these defendants which could create liability,” Levi ruled. “To the extent that either Myers or Gomez learned of incidents of alleged retaliation against the Riggs, they directed them to be addressed by the normal chain of command and procedures in place.”

Rigg said that he was not surprised by the ruling, given Levi’s demeanor during the lawsuit, and that he had already planned to appeal.

“The only problem with an appeal is it gets dragged out for another two years,” Rigg said. “I’ve been dealing with this since 1992 but I can’t let it get me down. It’s part of the system, it’s part of the game. The state has already cost me my health, four strokes and everything I’ve owned. Now we’ll see what other legal minds have to say.”

Last year, California agreed to settle a lawsuit by Rigg’s fellow whistle-blower, former guard Richard Caruso, for $1.7 million. But Caruso was able to establish that the corrections department pursued an internal investigation of him after he went to the FBI. Rigg could provide no such evidence.

“This is an exoneration of Jim Gomez and Tom Maddock and Eddie Myers and Department of Corrections,” said John Adkisson, a Sacramento attorney who represented the state in the lawsuit. “It is not a decision that pertains to what was going on with inmates at Corcoran. But it says that as far as retaliation against Rigg was concerned, these officials did the best they could.”