'Bullying:' Report on Claim of Hostility in Commissioners' Office Outlines Turmoil

Former clerk of the Board of Lewis County Commissioners Karri Muir has spoken out, saying she was bullied by Commissioner Bill Schulte, who she alleges also acted aggressively toward his fellow commissioners Edna Fund and Gary Stamper during the time before she filed a hostile work complaint against him earlier this year. 

Muir’s statement was provided to The Chronicle the same day a summary report of the allegations against Schulte was released to the newspaper as part of a longstanding public records request following the initial complaint in July. The report details a tense and uncomfortable environment in the county commissioners office, but it does not put the blame on one individual.

The investigation was headed by the consulting firm Seabold, which was paid by an insurance pool of counties, and the findings don’t represent final action for the complaint. Rather, the investigation is a required precursor to the potential filing of a lawsuit by Muir. 

The investigation found no discriminatory actions took place, and concluded Muir was not mistreated due to her age, which she initially alleged. In that way, the findings are similar to a report filed by Sheila Unger, a former commissioners’ employee, against Schulte in 2010. 

If Muir is successful in potential litigation against the county, she would likely become the second employee of the commissioners’ office to receive a legal settlement from county coffers due to allegations of hostility by Schulte. 

The county previously reached a $65,000 settlement with Unger. 

Muir said that despite being a good employee for the county, Schulte attempted to remove her from her position, stating the work environment became unbearable because of the conduct of a commissioner who went “rogue.”  

The initial claim submitted by Muir alleged Schulte treated her in a disrespectful manner, verbally attacked her, and took discriminatory actions against her. She also alleged he retaliated against her because of the complaint she filed.

Schulte, however, said Friday in an interview with The Chronicle he had concerns about Muir’s behavior that he attempted to correct. He said he was unhappy with her performance as the clerk of the board, although he believed she did a good job with public disclosure requests. He also stated he did not bully or harass her.

“I supervised her and she did not like being held accountable,” he said.

Schulte said he attempted to create a position for Muir that would pivot her toward her strengths, one that would have not included a demotion. 

The investigation cited text messages that confirmed Schulte attempted to remove Muir from the clerk position. The messages stated Schulte believed Muir provided “sensitive information” to Lewis County Assessor Dianne Dorey, leading to a lack of trust. The report further detailed opposition to Dorey, and noted claims that he showed preferential treatment to Candace Hallom, another commissioners’ office employee who ran an unsuccessful campaign against Dorey in 2015 and developed a difficult working relationship with Muir.

The report alludes to an overall feeling that Hallom was Schulte’s choice for a potential promotion. Hallom was later put on administrative leave after sending a message to Muir’s new employers in DuPont linking The Chronicle’s coverage to the hostile work complaint. She ultimately did not face any discplinary actions since the email was sent from a private address, outside of work hours, Schulte said.

“... It was clear to the investigator (as it was to me) that Bill Schulte was in fact trying to remove me from my position, either by forcing me into another position that he was trying to create, or by actually terminating my employment,” Muir said in her statement.

Schulte said he never told Muir he would terminate her employment, although he did say he spoke with the commissioners about steps they could take if he was not able to move her into a different role.

“I never threatened her with that or talked to her about it, so if she got that word it was from someone else leaking that confidential executive session information to her,” Schulte said. “My goal was to move her into a position that she was good at.” 

The summary report did not include transcripts of specific interviews with those involved, and The Chronicle is analyzing how to obtain that information. 

Schulte told The Chronicle he felt the report was “pretty accurate,” and said his leadership, although direct, is in no way hostile.

“It doesn’t make me look like a saint and I never said I was one, but I’m pretty straightforward, and I’m pretty honest,” he said. “I may be more direct than some people are comfortable with but that’s just who I am.”

The report found Schulte treated Muir differently than other employees in an abrupt and blunt fashion, which in turn caused Muir to become visibly upset and leave work in tears at times.

However, the report also said “many witnesses” did not see Schulte’s treatment of Muir in the harsh terms she described and said Schulte’s general work reputation was one where he spoke his mind. 

The report stated Muir’s interaction with Schulte, as well as staff, was influenced by the mood she was in. 

“Further, some witnesses who worked closely with Ms. Muir reported that her personality and demeanor toward Schulte may be a factor in how he interacts with her,” stated the report.

Schulte told The Chronicle Muir would get upset with him when he tried to supervise her, especially in relation to the amount of overtime hours she worked, an issue cited in her original complaint.

Muir believed Schulte had applied an overtime policy to her specifically, something the report found as true.

“The evidence establishes that Mr. Schulte attempted to enforce the County’s overtime policy because of the amount of overtime Ms. Muir claimed,” stated the report. “Ms. Muir claimed significantly more overtime than her coworkers from 2013 through 2016, and therefore enforcement of the policy would have impacted her more.” 

Schulte’s enforcement of the policy in 2016 appeared to have “no economic harm or other hardship caused to Ms. Muir as a result of his decision,” according to the report. 

As the chairman of the Board of Lewis County Commissioners in 2013, and again in 2016, Schulte said he focused on the issue of overtime and attempted to get Muir to document and justify her overtime. Instead, he said, she would go behind his back to get her overtime signed by another commissioner, something he believed was inappropriate.

The report found Muir did follow the county’s overtime policy on one occasion where she got her overtime pre-approved, but later went back to her former practice of working the hours without getting it approved beforehand. 

The overtime policy was not enforced with Hallom, the commissioner’s administrative assistant, who also serves as the clerk of the Board of Equalization. According to the report, Hallom submitted one timesheet with several hours of overtime that was not pre-approved.

But the amount of overtime hours greatly varied. From January to June 2016, Hallom claimed overtime for 2.25 hours, while in the same time period Muir claimed 78.75 hours. 

Commissioner Edna Fund said Muir’s job was very time consuming. She said Muir’s replacement recently questioned how Muir was able to complete her work in the allotted hours.

“Just the other day she said, ‘I don’t know how Karri did all this work,’ and she has not hit public disclosures yet and the hours she had to work,” Fund told The Chronicle. “That is a very big job.”

Another issue Muir stated in her initial complaint was that Schulte failed to sign and submit her position assessment questionnaire, which in turn resulted in a delayed pay increase.

The investigation found evidence Schulte did not submit the PAQ immediately, but said it did not interfere with or delay an increase to her pay. 

Muir also claimed Schulte retaliated against her after she filed the complaint, stating his hostility toward her increased, he kicked her out of commissioners’ meetings, and also played a part in sending an email to her new employer to discredit her after she left her position as clerk.

The report said findings were limited because Schulte was on leave due to his cancer treatment when the allegations surfaced.

One “troubling action that could have resulted in serious damage to Ms. Muir’s new job and professional reputation” was found to be in direct response to The Chronicle’s coverage of the complaint. 

Schulte’s involvement or knowledge of the action was deemed inconclusive by investigators.

After coverage of the complaint, Hallom sent an email to Muir’s prospective new employer, which linked to two Chronicle stories, with the words, “FYI, Your new clerk.”

The report stated Hallom claimed Schulte had no knowledge of the email, and said she acted alone after she became angry with Muir.

Schulte told The Chronicle he had no knowledge of the email at the time it was sent. 

One witness in the report told investigators that after the Aug. 18 article, and before the Aug. 29 email was sent, Schulte said “it wouldn’t be very good for Karri if her new employer found out about the complaint.” 

The report stated Schulte had directed Hallom to send out an email intended “to disparage a fellow commissioner,” Edna Fund, because she did not side with him on issues relating to Hallom. The investigation was unable to make a finding on the allegation.

Earlier this year, Community Development Director Lee Napier reported Commissioner Fund was influenced by a campaign donor. The Washington State Patrol investigated and exonerated Fund, according to the investigation report.

At the same time, commissioners were interviewing for Muir’s replacement. Part of the process included a writing exercise for the candidates, which the report stated Schulte disagreed with because he believed it would discriminate against Hallom, one of the candidates for the position. 

There was also an argument on whether the door should be open or closed during the candidate interviews.  

Schulte sent a text message in or around September that stated, “I thought we reached an agreement Tuesday. Three times in the last 2 days you violated the agreement. You let kari reorg the office without my knowledge, (fought) over the door, sabotaged the best person for COB. I’ve had enough, I’m going to the press.” 

Afterwards, Schulte directed Hallom to send an email to media outlets that stated Fund was the subject of an investigation, and there would be no coverup. 

“Although the evidence available does not support that he played a direct role in the email Ms. Hallom sent to Ms. Muir’s prospective employer, the circumstantial evidence related to his behavior at the time involving the email to the media about the WSP investigation, in conjunction with his alleged previous comment speculating that it wouldn’t be good for Ms. Muir if the new employer got the article, is concerning and cannot be overlooked,” stated the report.

Another issue arose in what Muir said was retaliatory behavior when Schulte asked her to leave two public meetings. The meetings were focused on filling Muir’s position. 

Schulte told The Chronicle the meetings discussed confidential personnel issues, and said he did not trust Muir to keep the information to herself. 

The report stated the minutes showed Muir was asked to leave one of the meetings because Schulte believed he could not have a “frank discussion” in front of her. The reason she was asked to leave the second meeting could not be confirmed by investigators.

“Many of Mr. Schulte’s behaviors that Ms. Muir alleges are retaliatory are also the basis of the original complaint,” stated the report. “We are unable to conclude whether these actions increased or became more persuasive, after Mr. Schulte became aware of the investigation.” 

Muir’s statement to The Chronicle Thursday said there are two sides to the story, and hers was yet to be told. She also commented on Schulte’s demeanor. 

“This was a commissioner who bullied many people, including his fellow commissioners, other staff, and myself,” Muir said. 

“I took my work seriously and did a good job for the commissioners and the county.”

It continued to say, “Lewis County is my home and heart. It is unfortunate that I felt I needed to leave my employment because the environment has become unbearable due to the conduct of a rogue commissioner.”

Schulte disputed those claims.

“I would say something very similar, that due to the poor behavior of a rogue employee, I would say her behavior and her actions made it uncomfortable for her to stay after she created all those problems,” he said. “I know she was uncomfortable in that position but that was because of her behavior. Like the old saying, ‘You make your bed.’”

Schulte and Muir worked together for a span of over seven and a half years since the commissioner’s first term in 2009.

In the earlier years, both reported a good working relationship, however, the parties told investigators that changed in 2012 or 2013.

Both parties gave investigators a different account of how the relationship turned. Muir claimed it had to do with friendships and disagreements in the office, while Schulte said it was because he directed staff to get pre-approval for overtime hours worked. 

According to the investigation, Muir believed her relationship with Hallom declined after the issue of overtime was brought up repeatedly.

In late 2013, the report states Hallom, Muir and another staff member entered into formal mediation. The two staff members said they “felt bullied” by Muir, and believed she did not communicate well. 

Muir believed Hallom was jealous of her in the clerk position, stated the report. 

Current and former commissioners stated Muir was knowledgeable and good at her job. 

An issue not discussed in the investigation is that Commissioner Fund previously told The Chronicle she has retained an attorney because Schulte treated her in a threatening manner. 

The text message Schulte sent during the State Patrol investigation showed that behavior, Fund said.

“I think they represent the issue that I had with Bill threatening me if I didn’t do something, Bill wanting different personnel, Bill saying if I didn’t do something then he would do some other things, that was represented,” she said.

Schulte, however, questioned if Fund actually had retained a lawyer, or if she had just spoken with one, something Fund disputed. 

According to Fund, the tense work environment “hit a crescendo” this spring, and things became increasingly unpleasant. She said that’s when Schulte’s demeanor shifted and things began to become problematic. 

“I think his personality did not help matters,” she said. “He’s a bigger than life guy anyway without any other factors in his life and then it just continued to grow. It’s so unfortunate.”

Schulte said he did not threaten Fund. Instead he said she would not get his endorsement or vote because of other issues.

With the investigation now complete, Fund said she looks forward to a fresh start. 

“I’m looking forward to the new year and having three commissioners present at all times,” she said. “It’s done and I’m glad it’s done before the first of the year so we can start with a clean slate and move forward. I feel like we got office staff that were solid, we are working hard and doing the best we can to serve the people.” 

Schulte will be replaced by Bobby Jackson, a Republican who defeated independent Bob Bozarth, at the end of the year.