San Quentin COVID outbreak spawns another wrongful death lawsuit by guard’s family

The family of a San Quentin State Prison guard who died of COVID-19 last August is suing state prison officials, claiming a botched transfer of inmates into San Quentin led to a coronavirus outbreak that ultimately killed him.

Sgt. Gilbert Polanco’s family claims in a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco that decisions by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials caused an outbreak at San Quentin after the transfer in May 2020 of 122 inmates from the California Institution for Men in Chino.

The transfer of inmates from CIM, where a COVID-19 outbreak had sickened hundreds of inmates and killed nine, has come under intense criticism from the state Inspector General’s Office and inmate advocates, and already is the subject of at least one other lawsuit filed on behalf of a 61-year-old inmate from Sacramento who died a month before Polanco.

Polanco, 55, died Aug. 9, 2020, after beginning his career as a correctional officer at the age of 21, according to the lawsuit filed by attorney Michael Haddad.

The suit claims Polanco was at high risk of serious illness from COVID because of obesity, diabetes and other health challenges, but that he volunteered to fill in on shifts created by a staffing shortage during the pandemic.

“He told his wife, ‘It is my job’ to protect the inmates and not let them die,” the lawsuit states. “When Patricia Polanco begged Gilbert to stop working, he told her he can’t, the prison was short-staffed, people were calling in sick left and right, and he had to work.”

A CDCR spokeswoman wrote in an email response to The Sacramento Bee that the department has not yet been served with the lawsuit “but we will evaluate the details and determine next steps.”

“We extend our deepest condolences to Sgt. Polanco’s family, friends and colleagues,” press secretary Dana Simas added.