Judge dismisses lawsuit filed by former Riverview worker assaulted by an inmate with a pen
Bangor Daily News (ME)Jan 31, 2015
U.S. District Judge
She was 18 weeks pregnant on
Hill-Spotswood alleged that staff at Riverview intentionally kept from her and other employees information about how dangerous the job might be and the violent criminal history of the man who attacked her.
"Mere awareness by the government of the danger posed by a private individual is not sufficient to amount to a due process violation," Singal wrote in his 11-page decision. "[Riverview's] actions did not deprive Hill-Spotswood of the liberty to act on her own behalf."
Hill-Spotswood's attorney,
"Riverview deprived her of the right to make an informed decision about whether to work in a remarkably dangerous environment and expose her unborn child to that level of risk," Waxman said Friday in an email. "[Riverview] placed her in an incredibly dangerous place without giving her information about the population of inmates with whom she would be dealing.
"Since she had no clue about how dangerous people like Murphy were, she had no opportunity to make an informed decision not to work in that environment, not to expose herself and her baby in utero to that risk," he continued. "Placing
Waxman said Hill-Spotswood gave birth to a healthy baby but continues to suffer the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder due to the attack. Information about when she resigned from Riverview was not available late Friday.
"Patient assaults on staff are, in every instance, unfortunate," Harper said. "When a staff member is injured, it is felt by the whole institution. It is very regrettable but part of the work we do involves dealing with individuals who occasionally assault staff. The current court ruling recognizes the reality of this work."
Hill-Spotswood in May sued her supervisors, the
Murphy, 49, was convicted in
Murphy was sentenced to 15 years in prison with all but 10 suspended. He is due to be released from the
The assault on Hill-Spotswood triggered new security protocols at Riverview, including the placement of law enforcement officers within the hospital.
A subsequent investigation by the federal government led to the hospital losing its accreditation because of overcrowding, inadequate staff and the use of methods such as handcuffs and Tasers to subdue violent patients, according to a previously published report.
The loss of accreditation, which was restored last February, led to a reduction of
BDN writer
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