SCRANTON – A civil rights and discrimination lawsuit brought against York County Prison and several of its correctional officials by a formerly incarcerated man of Middle Eastern heritage is now in flux after the plaintiff, who had been reported missing, was recently found dead.
Ben Mosbah Saidi of York first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on June 3 versus York County, York County Prison, corrections officers Troy Tyson, Eric Bush, Brandon Bankard, Michael Baugher, Messrs. Marin and Schneider (first names unknown) and John/Jane Doe and unit manager John Daryman, all also of York.
“Plaintiff is a Tunisian male and practicing Muslim who immigrated to the United States 40 years ago. Plaintiff speaks English with a noticeable foreign accent, served in the United States military and his immigration status is a ‘permanent resident,” the suit said.
“As a result of criminal charges stemming from a minor auto accident, plaintiff was sentenced to 1-3 years in prison and served some of his sentence at York County Prison. In December 2019, the charges against plaintiff were vacated and he was released from that prison on Feb. 13, 2020.”
In 2017, Saidi suffered severe injuries by local police, including a broken nose, broken hand and damage to both shoulders that requires rotator cuff surgery, the suit said. These injuries were not operated upon or had healed when Saidi began his five-month stay at York County Prison in August 2019, where he said he suffered harassment and beatings from the prison guards.
“Defendant Baugher ordered plaintiff to take the top bunk in his cell, even though plaintiff had lower bunk status due to back problems. Upon information and belief, defendant Baugher is a Lieutenant. When plaintiff refused to take the top bunk, defendant Baugher told him that he would be sent to the hole for three reasons: Plaintiff is refusing to take the top bunk; plaintiff’s name is ‘Saidi’ and plaintiff is from the Middle East,” according to the suit.
“Defendant Tyson called plaintiff ‘a terrorist’ in front of others and told plaintiff that he would make his life ‘a living hell.’ Defendant Tyson told plaintiff that he and the other corrections officers would make plaintiff ‘miserable’ until he ‘commits suicide.’ In plaintiff's presence, defendant Tyson told other COs at the prison ‘to take care of him,’ meaning to punish and torture plaintiff.”
Corrections officers allegedly would belittle Saidi, calling him an “illegal immigrant”, a “mercenary” and “Bin Saidi” (referencing Osama Bin Laden), in addition to the n-word. When Saidi spoke out against the racist treatment, he was further harassed, intimidated and abused.
Such treatment included beatings, the interruption of his Muslim prayers and the trashing of his cell, leading the plaintiff to file a serious of grievances against the guards – which resulted in no action from defendant Daryman and which only made the abuse worse, the suit said. Soon after, Saidi was sent to solitary confinement, also known as “the hole," where he added that he served more time there than other inmates.
“On Dec. 30, 2019, defendant Schneider and/or other individual defendants were escorting plaintiff to a prison medical office for a previously-scheduled appointment. Plaintiff was shackled and handcuffed. Defendant Schneider or one of the individual defendants pulled and yanked plaintiff’s shoulder, even though he knew that plaintiff’s shoulders required rotator cuff surgery due to injury,” the suit stated.
“When they were in the hallway near the INS office, plaintiff asked defendant Schneider or the individual defendant to stop pulling his shoulder. Defendant Schneider or the individual defendant told plaintiff to ‘shut up’ and, without warning, slammed plaintiff’s head against the wall and on the concrete floor. Defendant Schneider or the individual defendant slammed plaintiff’s head numerous times. Numerous individual defendants came to the scene and got on top of plaintiff, pounding his back with their knees.”
Saidi said that for a short time he lost consciousness and when he came to, he was lying on the concrete floor in a pool of blood – but he was then tased in the face and on his neck, while his arms were being twisted. Saidi was taken to Central Medical and then York Hospital.
“As a result of the beatings, plaintiff had a dislocated jaw and his two front teeth were so badly damaged and loose, that plaintiff cannot use his front teeth to eat food. The pre-existing damage to plaintiff’s shoulders got worse. When plaintiff was being transported to and from York Hospital, the individual defendants intimidated and harassed him by dropping the lift of the van on plaintiff’s head. Then the individual defendants laughed about it,” the suit stated.
“Sometime later, one of the individual defendants harassed plaintiff about the beatings saying words to the effect, ‘You started it and we finished it.’ The individual defendants include a Captain and two Lieutenants.”
UPDATE
Subsequently, the defendants filed both an answer to the complaint and a motion for summary judgment, seeking Saidi’s case to be dismissed.
This led plaintiff counsel to file a motion to stay the litigation for 60 days due to unforeseen events on April 8, along with a brief further detailing those events on April 15. It explained that plaintiff was missing and could not be located.
“In this matter, the equities weigh in favor of staying these proceedings for 60 days. Counsel assumed representation of plaintiff in May 2020. Since then and except for brief periods, plaintiff has been homeless in York, Pennsylvania. He has been living in the woods near the river. Plaintiff had a cellphone that he would use to stay in contact with counsel, as well as his father-in-law in California. From time to time, plaintiff would meet with a counselor at the Office of Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities (MHDD) in York County,” the brief stated.
“For over three months, the MHDD Counselor, plaintiff’s father-in-law and counsel have tried diligently to locate plaintiff, but have been unsuccessful. Over the same period, plaintiff has not contacted any of these individuals. During the harsh winter months, plaintiff was homeless – resisting the efforts of others to find him shelter. In or about December 2020, plaintiff began calling counsel in the middle of the night. He was agitated. He did not have his medicine. Plaintiff later contacted counsel’s office and while still frustrated, plaintiff sounded more stable. That was the last contact that counsel’s office had with plaintiff.”
Counsel maintained that in plaintiff’s absence, she could not adequately represent his legal interests and that the parties would not be prejudiced by a 60-day stay of the case.
However, in an updated filing on April 20, it was revealed that the plaintiff had recently died.
“Pursuant to Rule 25(a)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Leticia Chavez-Freed, Esq., counsel for plaintiff Ben Saidi in this action, solemnly provides notice of plaintiff’s death. On Sunday, April 18, 2021 children found the body of Mr. Saidi under a bridge in the County of York. Plaintiff’s counsel diligently looked for the whereabouts of Mr. Saidi to continue on in this litigation but to no avail,” Chavez-Freed said.
“Mr. Saidi died of natural causes at the age of 59 years, according to the York coroner. His body will be cremated and sent back to his family in California, according to his daughter’s grandfather. Mr. Saidi’s family will be given notice that they have 90 days to substitute an appropriate party into the place of Mr. Saidi and obtain new counsel in order to continue on in this litigation by way of letting the grandfather know.”
For counts of violating the Eighth Amendment for cruel and unusual punishment, violating the Fourteenth Amendment for equal protection, retaliation, civil conspiracy, violating 42 U.S.C. 1986 for failure to prevent conspiracy, violating 42 U.S.C. 1983 for Monell, the plaintiff is seeking damages jointly, severally and alternatively for compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and costs and such other relief that may be just and appropriate, in addition to a trial by jury.
The plaintiff was represented by Leticia C. Chavez-Freed of the Chavez-Freed Law Office, in Harrisburg.
The defendants are represented by York County Assistant Solicitor Donald L. Reihart, in York.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case 3:20-cv-00894
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com