FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- May 18, 2007
Media Contact: Sara Totonchi or Sarah Geraghty 404/688-1202
 

Women’s Health and Welfare Comes Second to
Collection of Georgia’s Fines & Fees    
 

MACON, GEORGIA – Incarcerated at the Georgia Department of Corrections' Macon Diversion Center, Cornesa Gilliard spent 12 hours a day, 6- 7 days a week lifting heavy cases of chicken at a processing plant as part of her sentence.  She was injured while lifting cases in the middle of one of these 12-hour shifts.  For seven months, Diversion Center supervisors and staff ignored Ms. Gilliard’s urgent need for abdominal surgery and blocked her from getting the medical care she needed.  As a result, Ms. Gilliard suffered months of severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, and ultimately incurred medical bills in excess of $20,000.  A lawsuit was filed today on behalf of Cornesa Gilliard.  She is represented by the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) and King & Spalding, LLP.

Ms. Gilliard's unconstitutional mistreatment by the Macon Diversion Center is one among a host of problems at the Diversion Center:  

  • Until SCHR intervened, the Macon Diversion Center sent men and women to work 7 days per week, 12 hours per day at a chicken processing plant 100 miles from Macon. The  1 ˝ hour commute each way,  combined with mealtimes and mandatory chores, left as little as 4 hours to sleep each night;

  • Two men were killed and two others seriously injured when a van transporting them from the chicken processing plant collided with a drunk driver at 2 a.m. in April 2007;

  • Until the SCHR intervened, the Diversion Center maintained a policy that kept people locked up if they were unable to pay their medical bills;

  • Diversion Center staff do not intervene when informed of sexual harassment and serious injuries in the work place, and continue to send men and women to hostile and dangerous worksites;

  • Women who worked the night shift at fast food restaurants were required to walk miles back to the Diversion Center on the side of the highway in the middle of the night in a high crime area.  Three women (including Cornesa Gilliard) were robbed at gunpoint; others have been followed and harassed.

            The Macon Diversion Center is operated by the Georgia Department of Corrections.  Men and women sentenced to the Diversion Center are generally low level offenders with nonviolent felony charges.  They are required to work as part of their sentence, typically in low-paying jobs without health insurance.  From their paychecks, the prison collects room and board fees, a transportation fee, and medical costs.      

            In July 2006, after hours of lifting heavy cases of chicken, Ms. Gilliard began to experience severe abdominal pain and vomiting.  Although a nurse at the Diversion Center nurse recommended she receive immediate evaluation at a health clinic, Defendants refused to grant her permission to leave the facility to see a doctor. 
 
           In the following months Ms. Gilliard continued to experience severe pain and vomiting.  In August 2006, Diversion Center staff took her to the emergency room after her pain and vomiting became severe.  Doctors stabilized her condition and ordered her to return for a follow up appointment.  Defendants refused to permit Ms. Gilliard to schedule a follow up appointment.        

            In October 2006, Ms. Gilliard again notified the Diversion Center nurse of her vomiting and acute pain.  The nurse sent an “urgent” message to Diversion Center staff requesting that Ms. Gilliard be taken for evaluation.  No action was taken.
 
           In November 2006, while working at Taco Bell, Ms. Gilliard began to vomit repeatedly and to suffer severe abdominal pain.  At the emergency room, she was diagnosed with an incarcerated hernia and fibroid tumors in her uterus.  She was discharged with instructions to schedule surgery.  Despite her repeated requests, Diversion Center staff would not issue Ms. Gilliard a “pass” to leave the facility for a follow-up appointment.    Ms. Gilliard was told that MDC would not pay for “cosmetic surgery.”
 
           On January 31, 2007, Ms. Gilliard again became violently ill with vomiting and severe pain.  She was taken to the emergency room.  On January 31, 2007, when Ms. Gilliard was in the emergency room, Superintendent Powell determined that Ms. Gilliard had "completed" the Diversion Center program.  He ordered her released, leaving her in the emergency room, severely ill, without identification, a coat, transportation, or any of the money she had earned in the last ten months.

            "Defendants were fully aware of Ms. Gilliard’s condition, but decided to allow her to deteriorate rather than allow her to get help," said Sarah Geraghty, an attorney at SCHR.

            After her release from the Diversion Center, Ms. Gilliard underwent surgery.  Doctors removed a large fibroid tumor on her uterus.  Ms. Gilliard’s lawsuit seeks damages for pain and suffering as well as the cost of her medical care.

            "Ms. Gilliard's pain and suffering is only the tip of the iceberg," Ms. Geraghty said. "Defendants' actions have made it clear that their top priority is to squeeze as much money as possible out of the men and women sentenced there.  Even though most people sent to MDC are sent to work in order to pay off fines and restitution, the Department of Corrections helps itself to a large 'room and board fee'  that results in people being released owing the same amount they did when they came in.  Crime victims owed restitution often get nothing."

View the Complaint


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