CLEVELAND, OH — Cuyahoga County has finally settled an additional civil-rights lawsuit over its—and its corrections officers’, blatant disregard for the safety and well-being of jail inmates. Glenn Mayer, who in October 2019 filed a federal civil-rights complaint against Cuyahoga County and corrections officer Darriell Hayes, accepted an $80,000 settlement of his lawsuit.

Captioned Glenn Mayer, Jr. v. Cuyahoga County, et al., Case No. CV-19-923255, the suit alleged claims for excessive force, assault, battery, failure to train and supervise employees, and related state-law claims, as well as destruction of public records.

The complaint alleged that on October 16, 2018, Mayer, who suffers from a neurological condition that causes muscle spasms, was receiving medication from a jail nurse when corrections officer Darriell Hayes attacked him from behind, grabbing Mayer’s neck and squeezing it. The complaint alleged that this unjustified use of force caused increased tremors. In response, Hayes continued to physically assault Mayer.

The complaint also alleged that the nurse administering the medication eventually intervened, telling Hayes to stop and explaining Mayer’s condition. Yet Hayes refused to do so. Mayer’s condition worsened over several days following the attack. He later was confined to a wheelchair. He has since progressed to using a walker but continues to experience physical weakness. Hayes failed to document his use of force against Mayer and claimed that he did not remember Mayer.

The County knew about Hayes’s violent tendencies and did nothing to stop them. According to performance reviews provided in response to a public-records request, Hayes’s supervising officers identified that, among other things, “Officer Hayes need[ed] to understand that he could not beat everyone in his housing unit,” and that he “has not been professional when communicating with inmates, using N word far to[o] much.”

Mr. Mayer’s complaint also alleged that the County destroyed surveillance video of the attack, in violation of Ohio’s Public Records Act.

Mr. Mayer was represented by Subodh Chandra of The Chandra Law Firm LLC. This is one of many lawsuits filed by Chandra Law against Cuyahoga County and its corrections officers over abuse, torture, and other misconduct in the jail. The others include

• a First Amendment–retaliation and excessive-force suit on behalf of Chantelle Glass, who suffered torture and then medical indifference by corrections officers,
• a suit on behalf of Corrionne Lawrence, whose complaint alleges corrections staff restrained and beat him, and then threatened to hang him and "make it look like suicide" after he reported misconduct to U.S. Marshals,
• a suit on behalf of Chariell Glaze, who suffered excessive force at the hands of corrections officers when asking about his scheduling release, having been pepper sprayed without justification and walked into a metal door,
• a suit on behalf of Michael Roarty-Nugent, who was violently retaliated against for a petty perceived slight following his request for an extra carton of milk at breakfast.
• a suit on behalf of Gregory Nelson, who was attacked by a member of the jail’s Special Response Team after demanding to speak with a corporal about his blatantly unsanitary living conditions,
• and a suit on behalf of Tyrone Hipps, who was grabbed and choked by a corrections officer as he attempted to pray.

The Chandra Law Firm also filed an additional First Amendment–retaliation lawsuit against the County and other defendants on behalf of Nurse Gary Brack, who was removed from his position as nursing director after blowing the whistle on atrocious jail conditions to County Council.

The representation of Mayer was led by Subodh Chandra.