Washington Jail Prisoner Commits Suicide; Estate Wins $7,700 by In December of 1992, Adelino Chavez was on suicide watch in the Kent, Washington City Jail. Rather than keep an eye on Chavez, the supervising guards went to a “promotional” party for 2 1/2 hours. When they returned Chavez had killed …
Absent Improper Conduct Finding, Washington Employee Cannot be Forced to Write Apology Letter by The State of Washington Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has held that where no evidence exists that a public employee engaged in misconduct, acted inappropriately during an interaction with a private citizen, the employee was not guilty …
Washington Guard’s Demotion for Creating Hostile Work Environment Warranted by The Washington State Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has held that demotion is proper for a prison guard who created a hostile work environment and abused his position when he used sexually offensive language and made jokes and innuendos of a …
Washington Prison Employees Show of Favoritism Towards Prisoners Merits Dismissal by The State of Washington Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has held that dismissal of a prison employee who mismanaged the prisons recreation program, showed favoritism to prisoners, and engaged in improper transactions with prisoners, including a cash transaction with the …
Seattle Police Settle World Trade Organization Protest Wrongful Arrest Suit for $1,000,000 by In October of 2000, Kenneth Rankin, Denise Cooper, Jennifer Hudziec and Stephanie Lane, all Washington state residents, filed a class action in federal court challenging the constitutionality of their arrest by Seattle, Washington police during a protest …
Washington DOC Settles Failure to Supervise Parolee Suit for $975,000 by Nathan Hipsher, a Washington state parolee, was using drugs, failing to participate in drug treatment and not reporting to his parole officer, who didn't have him arrested. He was living with Amber Bulus-Steed at the time, who he eventually …
Washington Civil Commitment Injunction Reaffirmed; No Appellate Jurisdiction to Review Contempt Sanctions by The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed their ruling upholding the so-called "Turay Injunction" but refused to hear an appeal of $10 million., in contempt sanctions against the defendants due to lack of …
Washington Community Corrections Officer’s Pay Reduction for Failure to Perform Duties by The State of Washington Personnel Appeals Board (PAB) has held that pay reduction for a Community Corrections Officer who failed to properly classify and monitor offenders, complete offender tracking reports, complete field itineraries, and comply with supervisory directives, …
No ADA Violation for Denying Deaf Arrestee Sign Language Interpreter by The deaf plaintiff complained that she was arrested without being provided an American Sign Language interpreter. (They did show her the Miranda warnings in writing.) An arrest is not a "program or service" under the Americans with Disabilities Act, …
Ex Washington DOC Guard's $101,000 Jury Award for Termination Reversed Due to Insufficient Evidence by The Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) appealed a 2005 judgment in favor of former employee Sandra Harris. Harris had sued claiming gender and disability discrimination, retaliation and outrage following her job termination. The jury verdict …
Washington State Prisoner Gets Life for Fight Resulting in Broken Nose by Washington State prisoner Charles Weber appealed his 2005 conviction for second degree assault resulting in a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Although his attorney admitted to providing ineffective assistance, the court affirmed the judgment. Weber …
Job Reallocation of Washington DOC Employee Deemed Age Neutral by Washington State’s Court of Appeals, Division I, has affirmed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Department of Corrections (DOC) in a lawsuit alleging employee age discrimination. Nineteen-year DOC veteran Mary Mckee contended her reassignment to …
$1 Million Awarded to Innocent Victim of Police Dog Attack by Washington state resident Ken Rogers was awarded $1.05 million by a federal jury after a police dog attacked him while sleeping on July 13, 2003. Kennewick city police were chasing a suspect utilizing a K 9 police dog. The …
Federal Court Restricts Constitutional Liberties as Condition of Release by James D. Ross appealed the 2006 supervised release conditions that were imposed on him after his federal court conviction for fraudulent firearm acquisition. The appellate court affirmed the conditions, which prevented his association with neo Nazi or White Supremacist organizations …
Washington PSIR Statements Absent Counsel Used in Appeal Warrant New Trial by Washington State prisoner Darrell Everybodytalksabout (petitioner) challenged the appellate affirmation of his murder convictions. He alleged Fifth and Sixth Amendment violations when Department of Corrections pre-sentence investigator Diane Navicky used statements made by him, absent the presence of …
Washington Inter-Prison Property-Shipping-Fee Class Action Suit Settles For $1,262,500 by John Dannenberg by John E. Dannenberg Between 1995 and 2005, Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC) policy 440.000 required prisoners who were being transferred between WADOC prisons to pre-pay the shipping costs of their personal property in excess of two …
Washington Court Allows Ex Parte Communication With Litigant's Non Party Employees by Washington State residents Nancy and Daniel Wright challenged a court order preventing ex parte communication with Group Health Hospital (GHH) personnel regarding their injury lawsuit. The ruling was reversed as to communication with non party employees not having …
Inadequate Washington State Jury Instruction Regarding Reasonable Doubt Ruled Harmless Error by Washington State prisoner Bruce Bennett, Jr., sought review in 2006 of an appellate affirmation of his escape conviction. He claimed that an inadequate jury instruction led to his conviction. The court ruled the instruction harmless error. Bennett was …
Washington State Patrol Exceeded Authority Impounding Vehicles For Suspended Drivers License by Washington State resident Mark Potter appealed the dismissal of his class action suit against the Washington State Patrol (WSP) for wrongfully impounding vehicles due to suspended driver’s licenses. The dismissal was reversed and remanded for further proceedings. Due …
$1.5 Million Awarded Female Washington Attorneys For Workplace Abuse By Prosecutor by Thurston County (Washington) criminal prosecutor's office employees brought civil rights violations action against the County for gender discrimination and hostile work environment beginning in 2001. Audrey Broyles, Susan Sackett Dan Pullo, and Vonda Sargent (plaintiffs) were awarded $1,522,000 …
