September 22, 2020 — An officer at a Dallas County jail has filed a class action lawsuit against the sheriff after an outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown is accused of creating conditions that put officers at “extreme risk” of being infected with COVID-19.
The lawsuit claims the sheriff failed to enforce social distancing, provide officers with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), or tests for COVID-19.
Furthermore, a lack of training, inadequate cleaning, and poor hygiene practices also caused COVID-19 to spread at the jail, according to the lawsuit:
“The Sheriff allows conditions to exist at the Jail that promote the spread of COVID-19, are a public health nuisance, are unsafe, and excessively endanger the health and lives of the Detention Service Officers, their families and their communities.”
The class action lawsuit was filed by a Detention Service Officer (DSO) at the Suzanne Lee Kays Detention Facility of the Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas, Texas. Approximately 900 officers work with 7,000 inmates at the jail, according to the lawsuit.