Editor’s note: This article is by Keith Whitcomb Jr., of the Bennington Banner, in which it was first published May 6, 2015.
BENNINGTON — A local man serving a sentence in a Kentucky prison for multiple burglaries is suing the company that owns the facility because he injured his hand with a table saw.
In January 2013, Eric Lambert, who was then 25, was sentenced to serve between three and 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to six counts of burglary, four counts of selling stolen property, two counts of grand larceny, two charges of violating his curfew, and one count each of petit larceny, unlawful trespass, false information to police, possession of marijuana, prescription fraud, and possession of burglary tools.
According to the complaint, filed in Vermont Superior Court Bennington Civil Division in April by Lambert’s attorney, Thomas W. Costello, of the Brattleboro firm Costello, Valente, and Gentry P.C., Lambert was incarcerated at a facility in Beatyville, Kentucky, on Nov. 29, 2013.
The facility is owned by Corrections Corporations of America, which is named as the defendant in the lawsuit and is represented by attorney Jennifer G. Mihalich, of Lynn, Lynn, Blackman, and Manitsky, P.C., a firm with an office in Burlington.
According to the complaint, on Nov. 29, 2013, Lambert was operating a table saw “owned and controlled” by Corrections Corporations of America. He severely lacerated his hand while operating the saw and that his injuries, “are continuing and are permanent.”
The complaint alleges that Corrections Corporations of America undertook the responsibility of providing Lambert a safe environment in which to live and work, and failed to live up to that responsibility.
As is common with Vermont civil cases, no amount for damages was specified. A response was filed by Mihalich on May 4 denying all of the allegations.
Neither attorney responded to press inquiries on Tuesday.
