AUBURN — A former Androscoggin County Jail worker who was fired after he was captured on security cameras duct-taping a co-worker and putting another guard in a chokehold dropped a lawsuit earlier this week against the county.

In a settlement, Patrick Gorham, who last held the rank of corporal, would be paid $5,437 in back wages, according to county documents.

The pay represents gross wages he would have earned from Sept. 29 to Nov. 18, 2009, while on unpaid leave during an investigation into his actions.

On Nov. 4, County Commissioners voted 2-1 to fire Gorham on the recommendation of Sheriff Guy Desjardins. Two weeks later, the commission issued its written findings of fact.

Gorham appealed his firing to Androscoggin County Superior Court, which ruled he was too late in filing his appeal. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court overturned that decision, which would have sent the matter back to the county court.

Instead, Gorham agreed to drop his appeal if the county would pay him the back wages and allow him to submit a letter of resignation as of Nov. 18, 2009, which would take the place of his firing.

Androscoggin County Commissioner Jonathan LaBonte, one of the two who voted earlier for Gorham’s termination, said he viewed the settlement as an equitable compromise.

Gorham has “probably learned his lesson and realized it was a mistake that he made,” LaBonte said. “He’s a young man that may have a career ahead of him in (corrections).” The settlement should give Gorham a “fresh start,” LaBonte said.

Gorham was a jail supervisor in 2009 when he was fired for on-the-job pranks, including duct-taping a co-worker to a chair and sending the bound man up the jail elevator; Gorham also put a co-worker in a chokehold, causing that worker to complain that he felt disoriented and nauseous afterward.

Videos of the two incidents were captured on jail surveillance cameras and shown to commissioners.

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