A Lewis County 911 dispatch worker transcribes a phone call during her shift at the Lewis County 911 Dispatch Center in Chehalis.
A Lewis County 911 Communications Center dispatcher was denied leave guaranteed by state law for domestic violence victims, retaliated against for requesting the time off and put in danger when county staff unlawfully released hundreds of pages of information about her to her alleged abuser, according to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.
An investigator from the agency ruled Lewis County acted in a “reckless and negligent fashion” by disregarding the exemption for personal information of employees in the state Public Records Act.
“In releasing this protected and sensitive information, Lewis County jeopardized the health and welfare of this employee,” a report from L&I dated March 29 reads.
L&I issued an infraction April 7 to Lewis County, determining that the county violated the state’s Domestic Violence Leave Act five times in relation to the complaint. The agency hit the county with a fine of $2,500, or $500 for each violation.
Lewis County has until April 27 to appeal the infraction, but Lewis County Risk Management Administrator Paulette Young said the county does not plan to do so. She said she was unable to comment further on the matter.
The complaint was filed Jan. 27 by Jerrie M. O’Connor, a former dispatcher with Lewis County, three days after she filed a lawsuit with similar allegations in Thurston County Superior Court.
O’Connor was a dispatcher with Lewis County for 20 years before resigning last year.
O’Connor also filed a tort claim with Lewis County on Nov. 22, 2016, asking for $1,173,692.81 in damages.
The lawsuit requests unspecified damages against the county to be determined by a jury, including compensation for lost wages and benefits, compensation for emotional distress and attorney fees, and an injunction reinstating her to her previous position with full benefits and seniority.
A trial-setting hearing is scheduled for May 26 in Thurston County Superior Court.
O’Connor made a formal complaint with L&I on Jan. 27. She made six allegations against Lewis County and the 911 Communications Center for violations of the Domestic Violence and Family Leave acts.
She reported that her employer did not allow her to have a reduced schedule or to take requested time off, that her employer requested more documentation than required by law to justify her time off, failed to maintain her health care benefits, released her personnel file and work schedule to her accused abuser, retaliated against her for taking time off and failed to place her on leave for a medical condition.
Lewis County responded to each accusation as part of the L&I inquiry. According to a summary of the county’s responses, officials denied O’Connor was ever refused time off and stated that the amount of leave she did take represented a hardship to the center. Her time off exceeded a “reasonable level” required by the leave acts, according to the county, which also claimed that she provided vague descriptions for her requested time off.
The county admitted to releasing O’Connor’s information, but claimed it had no legal basis to withhold her personnel file and schedule to the man accused of abusing her.
An L&I agent who investigated the claim roundly rejected many of Lewis County’s responses to O’Connor’s allegations and found the county violated five portions of the Domestic Violence Leave Act by not allowing reasonable leave, asking for verification of leave not required under the statute, prohibited disclosure of information, violation of confidentiality and retaliation.
A report from the investigating agent includes excerpts from emails between O’Connor and Lewis County Dispatch Manager Dave Anderson.
Anderson denied leave requested by O’Connor for court dates and appointments with advocates, according to the report.
“The employer contends in every instance that leave was requested by the employee, the employee either took off the leave requested or was off, and domestic violence leave was never denied,” the agent reported. “The agent finds the employer did deny domestic violence leave on several occasions.”
Excerpts from emails also show instances in which Anderson asked O’Connor for more information about her domestic violence leave than is allowed under the law, according to the L&I report.
One such quote from a May 31, 2016, email from Anderson to O’Connor reads, “Are you saying that you are going to take your kids to a shelter now? And if so, will that interfere further with your ability to work at the 911 Center? I only ask so that I can start planning on how to further cover your absences.”
At the time of the violations, the 911 Communications Center was under the control of the county’s Central Services Department. Steve Walton is the director of the department, while Anderson is the manager for the 911 Communications Center. Anderson is still the manager, but the 911 department was moved to the Department of Emergency Services under Director Steve Mansfield. Commissioners Edna Fund, Gary Stamper and Bobby Jackson announced the change in March.
Mansfield told The Chronicle Thursday he could not comment on the issue as it was before his time directing the department.
Lewis County Commission Chairman Gary Stamper did not immediately return a request for comment.
The L&I report also states that the county did not maintain required confidentiality under the Domestic Violence Leave Act.
The act requires confidentiality for an employee or an employee’s family member regarding domestic violence, extending to any leave, “written or oral statements, documentation, record or corroborating evidence provided by the employee.”
“Emails show the employer received a verbal public records request from the claimant’s alleged abuser … requesting the claimant’s schedules for November and December; to which, the employer provided the claimant’s schedules,” the report states.
The alleged abuser reportedly made further public records requests seeking O’Connor’s personnel file, disciplinary records, correspondence regarding her personal safety or domestic violence concerns and correspondence regarding court matters.
“The employer released over 200 pages including the claimant’s resignation letter, which included several protected statements regarding her domestic violence situation,” the report reads.
O’Connor’s lawsuit states that she did not approve these releases and specifically asked her employer to not release information to the alleged abuser.
The L&I agent found that the county would not have been required under public records law to release the information, and that it should have remained confidential.
“The employer’s contention that they are immune from liability for complying with obligations under the Public Records Act … does not take into account the agency has to be acting in ‘good faith’ in order to be immune from liability,” the report states. “Lewis County was not acting in good faith when they released the claimant’s personal and confidential information.”
Finally, the agent concluded that Lewis County retaliated against O’Connor for trying to take leave. On May 24, 2016, she was issued a disciplinary action threatening her with “further supervisory action” if she did not meet expectations regarding her leave and attendance.
“The employer further denied several leave requests, labeling them as job abandonment,” the report reads.
The L&I agent includes an instance in which O’Connor was called into a meeting with her union representative, supervisor and human resources representative. She was given instructions on how she was expected to request time off in the future.
“Over and above the fact the employee was called into what any reasonable person would conclude was a disciplinary meeting, the employer separated the employee from her peers by creating a new form that did not previously exist in an attempt to limit the claimant’s ability to take domestic violence leave,” the report reads.
The L&I report found that Lewis County did not deny health benefits to O’Connor and that it could not make a determination on whether the county violated the Washington Family Leave Act, because that type of investigation would need to be forwarded to the U.S Department of Labor.
The Lewis County 911 Communications Center has been in disarray for more than a year.
In late 2015, concerns from area fire and police chiefs about the 911 Communications Center led the Lewis County Board of Commissioners to make a change at the department. Former Central Services Director Mike Strozyk and former dispatch manager Craig Larson were let go and Steve Walton and Dave Anderson were appointed, respectively, in their places on an interim basis.
By May 2016, fire and police chiefs again expressed concerns, which were dismissed vehemently by Anderson as “hogwash” and by former Commissioner Bill Schulte as “bull—.”
Dispatch staff took a vote of no-confidence in Anderson soon after, which was dismissed as “meaningless” by Walton as far as it related to the county’s decision to hire Anderson full time later that year.
Anderson wasn’t asked any questions regarding the no-confidence vote or claims of mismanagement when he was interviewed by a panel appointed by the county commissioners. Representatives from the Chehalis and Centralia police departments, which had been critical of the 911 center’s management, were not included in the process.
In the fall, dispatchers began to complain about working conditions, water leaks and suspected mold growth at the center, prompting an L&I inspection, but no mold was found.
Dispatchers expressed concerns at the beginning of 2017 that staffing levels at the center were dangerously low, with as few as two dispatchers on duty in off-peak hours.
