Oregon prison officer files $7M hazing suit against state

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon Department of Corrections officer is suing the state, his former coworker and corrections officials for $7 million after he was attacked with a stun gun by an employee.

The Statesman Journal reports the civil rights lawsuit filed last week on behalf of Michael Kilgus accuses Coffee Creek Correctional Facility of maintaining a culture of “silence enforced through violence, threats, and hazing.”

The lawsuit says the culmination of the culture resulted in an employee using a taser on Kilgus and he and others leaving him there while he had a seizure.

Corrections spokeswoman Jennifer Black says the employee accused of using the stun gun on Kilgus has been fired and that the priority of the prison is the safety of staff, institutions and adults in custody.