CHARLESTON – A former Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety employee has sued the agency after she was fired in response to the infamous Nazi salute photograph of a graduating training class despite having no involvement in the incident.
Annette Daniels-Watts filed her complaint July 13 in Kanawha Circuit Court. Scott Patterson, who is DMAPS’ Assistant Commissioner of Training and Staff Development, also is named as a defendant. DMAPS since has been renamed the Department of Homeland Security.
According to the complaint, Daniels-Watts was employed by DMAPS and its predecessor agency in various correctional officer positions from February 2004 to December 6, 2019. Before her termination, she was a Correctional Officer 6 or Captain and was a supervisor at the West Virginia Corrections Academy in Glenville.
The DOC 18th Training Class was held at the academy for six weeks, with the graduation on November 27, 2019. The trainer assigned to that class was Sergeant Karrie Byrd.
According to the complaint, some of the cadets in the training class began to perform a Nazi-like salute to Byrd during the training session. It says Byrd encouraged such conduct and sometimes reciprocated the gesture.
Daniels-Watts says she had no knowledge this conduct was occurring, and she says no cadets or academy employees reported it to her.
A tradition had developed that the class would sometimes take “silly” photos when the official class graduation photograph was taken. The complaint says Byrd directed the cadets to pose for their “silly” photo by performing the Nazi salute to her.
“Plaintiff had no contemporaneous knowledge that this offensive class photograph was being taken, and plaintiff was not involved in supervising or approving the taking of such photograph,” the complaint states. It also says Daniels-Watts didn’t know Byrd had texted the photo to office assistant Jennifer Parsons, who allegedly added the caption “Hail Byrd!” to it.
At the end of the day on November 26, 2019, the plaintiff says she entered Parsons’ office and saw a copy of the “silly” photo on her desk. She says she told Parsons she thought the photo was “racist and horrible.” At the end of the next day, the plaintiff says she received a text from her immediate supervisor, Ralph Terry, saying the photo had been discovered by agency officials and that a meeting would take place December 2, 2019, about it.
During that meeting, Daniels-Watts met with Patterson about the photograph. She told him she had seen it in Parsons’ office and that she expressed her opinion about it.
“With the benefit of hindsight, plaintiff expressed regret that she had not taken more aggressive steps to address this situation when she first observed the photograph,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff prepared and submitted a written memorandum reciting the same things that she had told Mr. Patterson during the interview.”
She says she was not told of any possible disciplinary action or of any wrongdoing on her part.
On December 3, 2019. Patterson gave Daniels-Watts a letter from DMAPS Commissioner Betsy Jividen informing her she had been placed on a 60-day non-disciplinary suspension pending the results of an investigation about her knowledge of the photograph.
Two days later, she was informed by Patterson that she had been terminated. She received her official termination letter on December 6, 2019.
Daniels-Watts says the termination letter made numerous false claims about her and her knowledge of the photo.
For example, it says she admitted to seeing and possessing the photo. She also says she didn’t tell Parsons to place the photo in the graduation packets despite the letter saying she did so. In addition, she says her verbal disapproval of the photograph should have been sufficient to inform Parsons that distributing the photo would be inappropriate.
She also says she wasn’t given a predetermination meeting or 15-days’ notice before her termination as required by DMAPS policy. Because of her termination, Daniels-Watts is ineligible for employment with the state.
Daniels-Watts accuses the defendants of violating her United States and state constitutional rights. She says she has suffered economic damages through lost wages and benefits. She also says she has suffered general damages, including emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, annoyance and inconvenience.
She seeks immediate reinstatement to her position with all seniority, benefits and privileges as well as immediate restoration of her rights and privileges to seek future employment with the state. She seeks recovery and reimbursement of all back pay and benefits, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
Officials with the state Department of Homeland Security did not return calls seeking comment.
Daniels-Watts is being represented by Kurt E. Entsminger and Michael P. Addair of Addair Entsminger in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-583
