Brian Thomas Mosiniak
In this file photograph from 2000, an inmate walks across the yard inside the razor-wire fence at the CCA Silverdale Correctional Facility on Standifer Gap Road.A former Silverdale Correctional Facility inmate is seeking $5 million in damages for what his lawyer calls cruel and unusual punishment at the hands of jail workers.
In a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday, an attorney for Brian Thomas Mosiniak claims Corrections Corporation of America employees put Mosiniak in an unsafe position on a top bunk, left him on the ground for hours after a fall and refused to offer care after he underwent surgery.
The complaint names both Hamilton County and CCA, blaming the private corrections management company that staffs the jail instead of any individual employee. The complaint alleges that CCA's policies contributed to Mosiniak's mistreatment.
Mosiniak's attorney Robin Flores said his client's medical records stand for themselves.
"This is one of the worst I've ever seen when it comes to just the facts," Flores said.
Mosiniak was being held on a misdemeanor theft charge, Flores said. At the time of his arrest, the complaint states, Mosiniak had bipolar and anxiety disorders and back pain. A doctor at the jail ordered that he sleep on a bottom bunk. But Mosiniak says a CCA employee ordered him to occupy a top bunk instead "to make room for gang members."When he protested, he was given an unstable plastic bin to step on, the complaint states.
In October 2013, Mosiniak fell from that top bunk to the concrete floor, fracturing his hip. His cellmate called for help, and as he lay facedown on the floor a nurse arrived. She said that he was faking, and a CCA employee told him to "wait a few hours and that maybe the pain will go away," according to the complaint.
Mosiniak says he lay facedown on the ground for nearly nine hours. During that time, a CCA employee fed him breakfast on the floor. Mosiniak was transported to Erlanger hospital only after his cellmate convinced CCA employees he was injured.
Screws were inserted into Mosiniak's hip to treat a fracture, and after the surgery he was returned to Silverdale.
But Mosiniak says conditions didn't improve. Instead, he claims he was left to fend for himself even though he could not get to the toilet or clean himself on his own.
The complaint states that even though Mosiniak was confined to a wheelchair, he was taken to court appearances in a van that wasn't handicap-accessible. He was shackled and ordered to step in and out of the van without assistance, the complaint states. He reinjured his hip when stepping down from the van for an appearance on child support matters out of Missouri.
Attorney Hank Hill was able to secure Mosiniak's release, and he returned to Erlanger, where he was treated for that reinjury.
The complaint specifically cites violations of Mosiniak's civil rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Mosiniak's injuries left him with one leg shorter than the other, the suit says.
Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said the county is looking into Mosiniak's complaint.
CCA spokesman Jonathan Burns said the company cannot comment on the specifics of the case, but is committed to the health and safety of inmates.
"CCA facilities in Tennessee are staffed by a full-time complement of health-care professionals, including nurses and physicians, who are charged with safeguarding inmate health," Burns said in a prepared statement. "Further, correctional officers and other facility staff receive detailed training covering inmate first aid and response procedures in the event of an inmate injury or health concern."
Contact staff writer Claire Wiseman at cwiseman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347.