LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Maj. William Ashby, a Metro Corrections commander, attended a pre-termination hearing Monday morning after he was suspended since sending an unauthorized email to corrections employees earlier this month.
After Monday's hearing, Ashby, his attorney and the president of Louisville Corrections FOP Lodge 77, which represents corrections officers, talked to the media.
"I have no regrets at all," Ashby said. "There are somethings at Metro Corrections that are grievously wrong, and they have to be addressed."
And Ashby isn't biting his tongue about the jail or even his boss, Metro Corrections Director Dwayne Clark.
"I think Mr. Clark needs to resign," Ashby said.
Even though it has led to an unpaid suspension and will likely cost him his job, Ashby shared his thoughts and concerns about the jail.
"I feel relieved to be standing out here and doing what I thought was best and what was right," he said.
Ashby was suspended after sending an apology email to corrections employees, sent in response to ongoing staffing shortages at the jail.
Louisville Metro Corrections
"I didn't want the jail to be unsafe that weekend," he said.
And the issue also recently took center stage at Metro Council.
"I don't understand how that can happen if we are actually focused on recruitment and retention," Metro Council President David James said.
During a Sept. 14 Metro Council Public Safety Committee meeting, staffing was not the only tough question directed at Clark.
Ashby was one of a room full of officers who did appear in person and said it was painful to watch.
"I was embarrassed for our staff," he said. "There was a point where I almost felt like I needed to walk up to the podium and take a couple of shots fired at me."
A few days later, Ashby sent this email to corrections staff:
"Ladies and gentleman,
Let me start out with saying as Senior management I have failed you. For that I’m sorry. You now have my attention, the administrations attention, Metro Governments attention, and most important the public’s attention. Each of us pride ourselves on being sworn professionals.
This weekend all eyes will be on us. We control the narrative. Do we want the families of over 1,600 men and women incarcerated at our jail worry about the safety of their loved ones? Do the individuals currently under our care, custody, and control have to have to live in fear? Do we want the families of the dedicated men and women in uniform to worry about our safety? Yes, I will admit this has been a problem for a while. This week Johnson put everyone on notice. The concerns are legitimate and must be addressed and I have no doubt he will continue to fight for you.
So I ask you, are you going to show the public that you take your oath seriously and they can trust you or are you going to sit this one out?
Ashby"
But the email was followed by this letter from the head of Metro Corrections:
September 21, 2021
Major William Ashby;
Pending a pre-termination meeting to beheld at lO:30 am on 09/27/2021, you are
suspended without pay from your position at Louisville Metro Department of
Corrections for publishing an email at 9:20 p.m., Thursday September 16, 2021 about the
management and operation of Metro Corrections. That email was sent as a message
concerning Metro Corrections Senior Management without my knowledge or
permission. The email was sent using your Metro Government email account to all
sworn staff and caused disruption in the workplace. You had previously been warned
about such unapproved cornrnunications after your 2019 email regarding sworn staff
medical testing requirement.
Respectfully,
Director Dwayne Clark
So Ashby and his attorney headed into Monday's hearing expecting the worst.
"This is the first time I've ever been to a pre-termination hearing where the result wasn't a foregone conclusion," said Thomas Clay, Ashby's attorney.
Clay said corrections officials want more time to make a decision about Ashby's job, but after the hearing, the major removed his own picture from the wall in the lobby of the jail.
Clark did not respond to a request for an on-camera interview, but a spokesperson from Metro Corrections sent said in a statement:
"Dwayne Clark has been a consummate Corrections professional for over 40 years. He has spent the last year running our corrections facility through a global pandemic and the worst staffing shortage in recent history. He will continue to better LMDC every day and will weather this storm."
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