Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Dale Washam faces a new investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into possible civil-rights violations at his office.
Federal authorities announced their inquiry in an Aug. 17 letter obtained by The News Tribune. The investigation targets Washam’s conduct, but it entangles the county as well.
The federal inquiry is new; the circumstances are not. U.S. attorneys are following up on an earlier finding by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“Where an employer is found to be in violation of Title VII (the federal civil-rights law), it is the Attorney General’s responsibility to take appropriate action to eliminate that violation, including the presentation of the matter to the appropriate court for civil proceedings,” the letter states.
The commission determined in January that Washam likely violated civil-rights laws by retaliating against Sally Barnes, an employee who complained about Washam’s treatment of her. Barnes resigned in March 2010, citing “intolerable working conditions.” Washam denied wrongdoing.
EEOC findings typically lead to attempts at settlement, but that didn’t happen, according to federal correspondence. The lack of resolution brought the Justice Department into the fray, complicating the county’s efforts to resolve the damage claims.
“We’ve never had this happen before,” said Mark Maenhout, the county’s risk manager. “There are lots of different complaints going on here.”
Washam did not respond to a request for comment left with his assistant last week.
A second letter sent Sept. 15 sheds light on the scale of the federal inquiry. U.S. attorneys filed a 12-point request for records, seeking emails, meeting minutes, and other documents dating to January 2009, when Washam took office.
“Following our review of the requested documents, we would like to schedule a time to interview certain ATO (Auditor-Treasurer’s Office) employees and officials who may have relevant information to help complete this investigation,” the letter states.
The federal probe is the seventh investigation of Washam’s office in the past three years. It comes at a delicate moment: county leaders are working to resolve four damage claims filed by current and former employees that seek a collective total of $4.3 million.
Since taking office, Washam’s actions have sparked feuds with county leaders; investigations that found he committed acts of misconduct (he denies it); an unfair-labor practices complaint that remains active; the damage claims; an ethics complaint; and a recall campaign that passed muster in court but narrowly failed to qualify for the November ballot.
Total cost of the investigations and other legal matters tied to Washam now stands at $411,808 and climbing, according to Maenhout.
Barnes is a central figure in Washam’s stormy tenure, and one of the four damage claimants.
When Washam took office, she served as the agency’s administrative officer, ranking second or third in authority among employees. She had worked at the agency for 30 years. Much of the controversy surrounding Washam starts with her, though it later spread to other employees and issues.
Records show Washam blamed Barnes and other employees for the appraisal practices of the previous administration. The former assessor, Ken Madsen, used computer models to revalue some properties, instead of the physical inspections required by law.
Washam believed the practice was criminal, and accused employees of complicity. He also reproached them for not supporting his failed attempt to recall Madsen in 2005, records state.
During that recall attempt, a judge ruled Madsen had a “legally cognizable justification” for his actions. Washam did not appeal the decision at the time.
When Washam took office, he resurrected the argument, training his sights on Barnes and other employees and accusing them of crimes. In response, they filed complaints against him. That prompted the tide of investigations that led to findings of Washam’s misconduct.
Washam scoffed at the findings, and began crusading for a criminal investigation into past practices at the assessor’s office. Through 2009 and 2010, he sent repeated demands to local and state authorities, including county prosecutors, the county sheriff, the Tacoma police chief, the state auditor, the state attorney general and the governor.
The leaders declined to support Washam’s demands, telling him investigation was unnecessary and wasteful; the only remedy was gradual correction of property values over time. Washam disagreed, and continued to lobby despite multiple refusals.
He also used his official public website to criticize other officials and the complaints against him. The statements still appear in the online archives of the site.
Washam referred to Barnes’ complaint as “bogus,” accused employees of conspiring against him with their union, and accused the county human resources director of misconduct.
Washam’s chief deputy, Albert Ugas, filed a whistleblower complaint that accused Barnes of criminal acts. That prompted another investigation, which found Barnes did not commit criminal acts. Washam disagreed, and continued his crusade.
Ugas filed a second complaint against Betsy Sawyers, the county human resources director. Another investigation followed; it found Sawyers had done nothing wrong.
Internal records show Washam discussed complaints and related investigations with employees, and kept track of who was being interviewed, despite written regulations and formal statements telling him not to interfere. He refused to be interviewed by one investigator and told two others to submit all questions in writing, records state.
He published findings of the Barnes complaint on his website, which included her name. That act breached whistleblower provisions designed to protect the identities of complainants.
Internal records, including e-mails sent by Washam, show he tried to fire Barnes and lay her off, while publicly saying he was not doing so (Washam said Ugas, his deputy, made all the decisions.)
The federal investigation is likely to cover all that ground again, even as county leaders replow it in their efforts to resolve the active damage claims. The county settled an earlier claim filed by former Washam employee Mark Williams, with a payment of $79,000.
That leaves four claims remaining, filed by former employees Barnes and Cindy O’Neill and current employees Jim Hall and Shellie Pollitt. Tacoma attorney Jack Connelly represents all four.
The efforts to resolve the damage claims require legal help; the county has hired an outside law firm for the purpose. Normally, such work would be done in-house, but Washam’s clashes with county leaders, including the prosecutor’s office, have created potential conflicts of interest. Those factors raise the overall costs. So does the requirement to review relevant records.
Tacoma attorney Richard Wooster is representing Washam. Seattle lawyers Mike Patterson and Erik Laiho, are working for the county. Patterson and Laiho have conducted interviews with involved parties, including the employees, as well as Washam and Ugas.
“There are bookshelves of information that our legal people have to go through,” Maenhout said. “Binder after binder, created by all these investigations. It’s a complicated mess.”
Sean Robinson: 253-597-8486
sean.robinson@thenewstribune.com
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