Lawsuit against CDCR claims plaintiff suffered alleged abuse on the job

CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION-TV) -- A state corrections officer announced a lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) over alleged abuse at multiple state prisons, including one on the Central Coast.

The lawsuit claiming that officials within the department sexually assaulted and violently hazed the plaintiff, in what he describes as a "toxic work environment" at Corcoran and Salinas Valley state prisons.

In the complaint Eric Beam says that he worked for the CDCR for years, claiming that fellow officers burned him with department issued pepper spray, crushed his foot and demonstrated sexual assault.

Beam also claims he was tied to a wheelchair and left in the inmate shower area. This, he says, was witnessed by his supervisors although they did not intervene.

Beam saying that these actions were a part of the culture within the prison called the "code of silence." 

In the claim, Beam names specific guards as well as the warden at Salinas Valley State Prison.

KION has reached out to both the CDCR as well as Salinas Valley State Prison with requests for comment on the lawsuit, but have not heard from either.