MONROE — A prisoner has sued the Monroe Correctional Complex alleging a staff member retaliated against her when she brought up safety concerns as a transgender woman.
Jennifer Jaylee, 48, of Pierce County, accused her Corrections unit manager of threatening her and making false accusations of sexually abusing a rabbit in the prison yard, according to the lawsuit filed in Snohomish County Superior Court in late April.
The plaintiff filed a tort claim for the incident in October, but the state did not respond.
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections declined to comment on the case this week.
In June 2021, an Office of the Corrections Ombuds report on Washington prisons found trans women often feel unsafe at prisons for men and that they “cannot honestly report when they are unsafe in that setting.” Trans women also reported being harassed or targeted after coming out.
“There’s a lot of things being done … but it’s not easy being transgender in a male prison,” Jaylee’s attorney, Darryl Parker, said last week.
Corrections responded to the report in a letter, stating all reports can be made anonymously and are “thoroughly investigated.” The department cited other reforms in the past decade to allow makeup and hygiene products for trans prisoners. The letter also noted a recent instance of a transgender prisoner housed at the women’s prison, and another of a trans man transferred to a men’s prison.
If a prisoner identifies as transgender, they must first go through a lengthy evaluation process before transferring to a facility aligned with their gender identity, Corrections spokesperson Tobby Hatley said in an email Friday.
“The department has completed a considerable amount of work in recent years to ensure specialized populations are treated fairly and equitably and that safety issues are addressed,” Hatley wrote.
Jaylee has spent much of her adult life in male prisons, serving time for murder, kidnapping, child molestation and custodial assault of a jail guard while awaiting trial for murder in Pierce County. She’s not expected to get out of prison until at least 2041.
In October 2021, her corrections unit manager informed Jaylee she was transferring the inmate to Airway Heights Corrections Center west of Spokane, according to the lawsuit. Jaylee reportedly did not know about the transfer beforehand, and reported she feared for her safety sharing a room with someone she did not know. Jaylee filed an appeal for the transfer the next day.
Days later, the Corrections manager threatened the plaintiff: “You’ll regret filing a complaint against me,” she said, according to the lawsuit. The manager warned her again a couple months later. After Jaylee told her that she did not appreciate the threats, the Corrections manager reportedly stared at her and stormed off.
By February, the complaint alleges, the manager began monitoring everything she did.
On May 17, a guard accused Jaylee of abusing and killing a rabbit found in the prison yard. The Corrections manager called the police. The lawsuit stated staff had no evidence to support this accusation. Parker said the guard’s statement did not use the words “molested, abused, mishandled, or anything like that.”
Still, the Corrections manager reportedly pushed for criminal charges against Jaylee. The Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office did not find a basis to prosecute, according to the lawsuit.
The manager “decided to punish plaintiff by placing her in solitary confinement” for 10 months. Jaylee was then transferred to the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, the complaint read. Jaylee remained there this week.
The lawsuit states Corrections staff repeatedly threatened to transfer Jaylee out of state, claiming her life was in danger at all Washington prisons “as a result of the incident with the rabbit,” and that “she needed to be removed from the state for her own safety.”
Jaylee alleged she suffered mental and emotional harm, and is therefore entitled to compensation.
Jaylee’s attorney recently negotiated a $250,000 settlement with another Monroe inmate, Harold Lang Jr., who accused prison officials of failing to treat a serious knee injury he suffered there.
Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.
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