NH- Two suspended prison guards are ordered back to work.

Suspended state prison guard Jeffrey Bettez will return to work May 23 with back pay, 16 months after he was taken off the job, according to Jeffrey Lyons, spokesman for the Department of Corrections.

Bettez, of Gilford, was accused of punching inmate Michael Saulnier. He was suspended without pay in January 2010.

No criminal charges were brought against Bettez. The state originally decided it wouldn’t represent or indemnify Bettez in a lawsuit filed by Saulnier, but withdrew that decision the day before Bettez was to appeal it to the Governor and Executive Council.

“We conducted an internal review, and based on the outcome, we determined he (Bettez) should be reinstated to the prison,” Lyons said.

Bettez and Mark Jordan have been the subjects of an ongoing legal battle. Jordan, the president of Local 250 of the New England Police Benevolent Association, which represents 400 prison guards, was suspended without pay March 12, 2010. The state appealed a Personnel Appeals Board decision to the state Supreme Court that previously ordered both men be reinstated.


Link: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20110508/NEWS07/705089987