An aide to former Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz alleges in a new lawsuit that her boss brushed off allegations that the agency's top lawyer was being physically and verbally abusive.
After directly airing the allegations with Franz, the woman alleges she was retaliated against, frozen out of travel and important meetings.
The accusations, which Franz denies as false, are spelled out in a lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court by Bailey Boyd, who was hired in 2023 as Franz's deputy director of external relations at the Department of Natural Resources.
Boyd soon began dating Daniel Teimouri, then the agency's general counsel. After a few months, the relationship turned physically and emotionally abusive, Boyd's lawsuit says, with Teimouri hitting and strangling her and threatening to kick her out of their home and use his influence to get her fired.
Teimouri established strict rules for Boyd, which affected their home and work life, the lawsuit says. He required her to answer his personal phone calls while working but she could not call him; she had to rub or scratch his back upon demand"; and she had to kiss him in the work conference room when he wanted, the lawsuit states. She also alleges he forbade her from speaking with certain male colleagues.
Last July, Teimouri was arrested after Boyd called 911, saying he'd forced her face down into a bed in an apparent attempt to suffocate her, according to the lawsuit.
Teimouri pleaded guilty this April to one count of domestic violence assault for that attack. He was sentenced to 60 days of electronic home monitoring and five years of supervision and was ordered to surrender several firearms he owned, court records show.
Boyd says she twice personally told Franz about abusive behavior by Teimouri.
In February 2024, Boyd attended a dinner event with Franz against Teimouri's wishes, as he wanted her to stay home with him, according to the lawsuit. He texted and called her throughout the evening, repeatedly threatening to kill himself if she did not return home immediately, the lawsuit says.
Boyd showed Franz some of the texts and reported some of his abuse, the lawsuit says. Franz responded by saying that Teimouri “engaged in similar behavior with his previous girlfriend” who also worked at DNR, the lawsuit claims, but Franz took no steps to address the harassment and abuse.
A month later, Teimouri hit Boyd multiple times, according to the lawsuit. She considered calling police but did not "because she feared losing her job," the lawsuit said. Instead, she called Franz and reported Teimouri was hitting her and that she did not feel safe, leading Teimouri to grab her phone and throw her down the stairs.
After that phone call, the lawsuit alleges, Franz "immediately retaliated" by drastically changing Boyd's job duties. She'd previously accompanied Franz on trips around the state and attended important meetings.
That all stopped. Franz essentially froze Boyd out of those activities, and "barely spoke" to her anymore, the lawsuit says. Meanwhile, Teimouri's job duties did not change.
The lawsuit names both DNR and Franz personally as defendants.
Franz, a Democrat, was elected as lands commissioner in 2016 and served two four-year terms leading DNR, the agency charged with managing millions of acres of forests, beaches and other public lands. In 2024, she ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in the 6th Congressional District.
In an email this week, Franz flatly denied the lawsuit's claims.
"The allegations against me are false. As this is pending litigation, I will not have further comment at this time," she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources said the agency does not comment on active lawsuits.
Teimouri resigned from DNR voluntarily in May 2024 to take another job, the lawsuit says. But he still told Boyd he could use his influence at DNR to get her fired, the lawsuit alleges. His assault arrest came two months later.
Teimouri declined to comment on the record for this story. His lawyer said in an email that the lawsuit "contains a multitude of false allegations and assertions."
Jason Rittereiser, Boyd's attorney, said in an interview the lawsuit is "a unique case" given Teimouri's position in DNR, and said there are recordings of some of his threats to Boyd's employment. He declined to share the audio with reporters this week.
In a series of obscenity-laced threats to Boyd described in the lawsuit complaint, Teimouri said he could "take your job away and make you poor again" and "I'm going to (expletive) destroy your career."
The lawsuit seeks unspecified economic damages, plus damages for "pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, and humiliation" as well as reasonable attorneys fees and costs.
Boyd, who left DNR this year, declined through her attorney to be interviewed. But on social media, she shared some of her story, including posting a photo of her face with black eyes and a broken nose following what she said was the abuse by Teimouri.
She also posted audio of her statement at Teimouri's sentencing, where she pleaded with the judge not to accept a more lenient plea deal he had negotiated.
During that statement, Boyd listed at length the many precise and controlling rules she said Teimouri had required her to follow during their relationship, as well as her terror at his threats and physical abuse.
"When I called the police, I did it for every woman who is going to come after me," Boyd told the court. "I hope what has happened deters Dan from hurting his partners in the future. They deserve better. I deserved better.
This story was reported in collaboration with KUOW News reporter Scott Greenstone.
Seattle Times news research Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report.
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