- April 18, 2024
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Volusia County seeks to fire its Corrections Director Mark Flowers after the government agency reported a seven-month internal affairs investigation revealed he had created a "hostile work environment" and that he violated inmates' rights, according to a press release.
Flowers — who was hired on May 17, 2014 and was promoted to corrections director on June 3, 2017 — has been on paid administrative leave since Aug. 15. That month, he also filed his own written complaint alleging that the internal affairs investigation had been mishandled. The county has requested an independent review by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a result, according to the press release.
His attorney, Kelly Chanfrau, said in a statement that Flowers was retaliated against by the county for blowing the whistle on inmate abuse. In a letter addressed to County Attorney Mike Dyer, County Manager George Recktenwald and Human Resources Director Dana Paige-Pender dated Oct. 7, Chanfrau wrote that Flowers was placed on administrative leave after he filed his written complaint concerning inmate abuse and attempts to suppress his complaints, following his return to work due to cancer surgery.
"Employees like Mr. Flowers should not, and do not, deserve to be retaliated against and discriminated against when he or she issues complaints to protect the public and correct wrong and illegal behavior," Chanfrau wrote in the letter. "A whistle-blower like Mr. Flowers should be protected for speaking truthfully and exposing a problem that needs immediate correction and intervention."
According to the county, its investigation consisted of interviews with about two dozen corrections employees and a review of over 15,000 text messages sent and received by Flowers. Several employees expressed that they felt uncomfortable with actions Flowers had directed them to do and told the county investigators that they felt "a general loss of respect and trust in his leadership," according to the county.
The county reports that its human resources department received an email on May 20 about a hostile work environment at the county's corrections division. The county's notice of intent to dismiss, dated Dec. 7, from Public Protections Director Mark Swanson to Flowers states states that a few days later, corrections officers and command staff filed complaints, and after an Internal Affairs investigation, the county "found instances of mismanagement as well as ongoing violations of VCDC policies" by Flowers.
“Based on the results of our internal investigation into the hostile work environment, which ultimately turned into an Internal Affairs investigation, we found instances of mismanagement as well as ongoing violations of VCDC policies by you,” Swanson wrote in the notice. “I concur that your ability to continue leading the Department of Corrections has been irreparably damaged by your behaviors.”
The employees' complaints included being yelled at, disrespected and having their jobs threatened by Flowers. The county reported one example where Flowers allegedly ordered an inmate, who was under a suicide watch, to be moved to a dorm with several other inmates under a single officer's watch. When the employee refused to move the inmate because the suicide watch hadn't been lifted, the county states Flowers "got angry and sent the employee home for the rest of the day." Employees also reported Flowers has a "habit of quickly changing course on directives and orders."
The county also reported in the press release that multiple employees said inmates were sent to a disciplinary unit without due process at Flowers' direction and that those inmates were then denied basic hygiene items, communications and commissary privileges. The employees said Flowers wouldn't explain his actions to staff or the inmates, and would often tell inmates, "This is my house." The county reported that, on more than one occasion, Flowers ordered an inmate in the disciplinary unit be given a crayon and paper as a means of communicating with his attorney.
In Flowers' formal written complaint, filed on Aug. 12, he said that his life "was turned upside down" on May 12 after he submitted a formal request for an internal affairs investigation for an allegation that corrections staff had beaten up an inmate, a request he filed about four weeks before he was due to undergo cancer surgery.
"Once the IA was submitted, I immediately came under attack from the International Union of Police Associations president and many of its members," Flowers wrote. "I understand that numerous complaints were all of a sudden being submitted against me, from the union president and others."
Flowers said when he returned to work after his medical leave, he was told he would be working out of a conference room, an act that he described as humiliating and very embarrassing as county employees would repeatedly question why he was working there. He reported this to Public Protections Director Mark Swanson, who allegedly told Flowers not "to go there," according to Flowers' complaint.
Flowers mentioned the use of force incident on April 26 involving an inmate and five correctional officers in his complaint. While the IA determined the allegations were not substantiated, he said he still had serious concerns about the investigation. He named three individuals — two correctional officers and one nurse practitioner — who both reported witnessing the beating, in addition to the inmate's own words. Flowers sent an email to all staff instructing them that "the head and face be off limits unless they were facing a deadly force situation," and said that's when he came under attack by the union president.
Flowers reports that upon him discovering no one from his command staff had checked on the inmate — who still sported two black eyes nine days after the incident when Flowers interviewed him — he had a meeting with command staff where he was "not very happy." His complaint states that his command staff was "upset that I counseled them with a strong tone."
The officers involved in the incident were removed from their original duty positions and placed in another department in corrections against Flowers' recommendation during the IA investigation, and the three witnesses were subsequently subject to "unnecessary and continuous harassment" from the individuals involved, the union president and members, thus creating a hostile work environment, Flowers detailed.
"No one deserves to come to jail to be beaten by our officers," Flowers wrote. "They are for the most part not bad people, but have made bad decisions. The majority of our staff are superb, however it is the small percentage that makes the job very difficult for the rest of us."
Three days after he submitted his formal written complaint, Flowers was placed on paid administrative leave.
According to the county, rulings were ignored by Flowers regarding the formal disciplinary process. The county states its internal affairs investigation revealed an instance where an inmate, who had been ordered by a jail hearing officer to spend 25 days in the disciplinary unit, spent 182 days there instead. Interviewed employees said the lack of explanation to inmates for disciplinary actions agitated the inmates and made for a more dangerous working environment for corrections officers. The county added that some employee complaints against Flowers date back to 2021.
Chanfrau said all of the allegations will be addressed "in complete detail" at an upcoming hearing.
A separate internal affairs investigation was also conducted by the county's Public Protections Department due to the allegations of inmate mistreatment. Both investigations, the county reports, substantiated several violations against Flowers — these include "willful neglect" in the performance of his job duties; violations of ordinances, policies and regulations, including safety rules; and conduct that interfered with an effective job performance, according to the notice by Swanson.
“Any suggestion that the termination was retaliation or in any way related to Dr. Flowers filing the complaint is absolutely and unequivocally false,” County Manager George Recktenwald said in the press release. “He was under investigation for three months before he ever filed the complaint. The reality is that the allegations that were substantiated during our investigation were so egregious that it was impossible for Dr. Flowers to continue in his job. His own actions and his mistreatment of his staff and inmates left us no choice.”
