Black correctional officers from the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown, Maryland, filed a lawsuit alleging that a group of white guards fostered a hostile working environment.
According to the lawsuit filed in July, a gang of white guards calling themselves “40 West” discriminated against immigrant and Black employees at the correctional facility.
The Daily Record reports that the complaint was filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act or RICO Act, and accuses the white gang of subjecting Black and brown correctional officers to “frequent racial slurs.” Black and brown correctional officers also miss out on overtime and promotions because of the “coordinated efforts by white officers.”
An attorney for one of the plaintiffs, Edith Thomas, said that the white gang of guards has been engaging in illegal behavior for decades and is also known as the “40 West Boys.”
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“Upon information and belief, a group of caucasian COs organized to engage in illegal behavior,” said Thomas in the complaint. “And to take administrative control of MCTC by creating a race-based gang called ’40 West,’ ’40 West boys,’ and/or ’40 West gang’ decades prior to the present.”
The suit, which was transferred to federal court this week, claims members of the “40 West” gang have included some high-ranking officers at MCTC and that officers who are part of the group use masonic imagery to identify each other. One of the guards reportedly has a tattoo of a swastika.
The plaintiffs claim that the “40 West” guards called them racial slurs, including the N-word, and they were told, “Go back to your country” and “We don’t want Blacks here.” The guards were also subjected to white guards making monkey noises over the prison intercom.
“The racial taunts are not merely occasional but insidious, serving as a relentless soundtrack to their workday,” the lawsuit states. “There are brazen taunts when white officers mimic monkey noises, over the intercom and directly at their Black colleagues. This conduct is not covert or hushed; it is flamboyantly displayed and bragged about, consequence-free, spanning all ranks within the institution.”
The Maryland Correctional Training Center has had allegations of corruption in the past. Another group of guards known as the “Hagerstown Eight” were fired or demoted after they beat six inmates at the facility back in 1982. The Black inmates were ordered to call the white guards “master” as they were put into their cells, according to The Washington Post. Inmates used to call the prison “Crackerville” due to the racism problem at the facility.
The plaintiffs claim that the “40 West” guards worked together to assist one another in getting overtime over the Black guards as well as immigrant guards. They also claim that the gang helped each other earn promotions and training that benefitted their careers and targeted Black and brown guards for misconduct while white guards’ infractions were ignored. The Daily Beast reports that at least 25 white guards are suspected of being part of the racist gang.
“Plaintiffs assert that the preferential treatment of the 40 West Defendants is blatant and contributes to a severe and pervasive hostile work environment for [people of color], immigrants, and others who do not and cannot belong to the group,” states the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also accused the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services of ignoring the Black officers’ complaints, causing them to be retaliated against. The DPSCS wrote in a statement that the department is “aware of the complaints alleged in this suit and is investigating the serious claims.”
The DPSCS also noted that they could not comment further due to “pending litigation.”
