Warehouse worker was fired from WA-run psych hospital. So why will state pay $310K?
The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services has agreed to pay $310,000 to a former psychiatric hospital warehouse worker who alleged he faced discrimination because he is Black.
The settlement, agreed to this week, will dismiss a lawsuit filed in March 2023 by ex-Western State Hospital employee Christopher Denson, who accused the department of wrongly firing him six months into the job, creating a hostile work environment and retaliation.
Denson supervised six employees and worked in a maintenance warehouse at the state-run hospital in Lakewood. He alleged that he had been held to standards that weren’t expected of white counterparts; denied the use of extra supplies; the subject of unfounded rumors; and told by one co-worker that that some of his subordinates might not accept his authority because he is Black.
After he filed a civil rights complaint in April 2022 over the alleged discrimination, he faced increased harassment from colleagues and a supervisor, according to the lawsuit filed in Pierce County Superior Court. He was terminated soon after the investigation into his allegations ended, the suit said.
DSHS and four former colleagues or managers named in the legal complaint denied the allegations in court.
Last week, Denson’s attorneys filed a notice to confirm that Denson had accepted the state’s $310,000 offer to resolve the case, court records show. A notice of settlement was then filed Tuesday by all parties in the suit. The case is expected to be formally dismissed within 90 days.
“This settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing,” DSHS spokesperson Tyler Hemstreet said in a statement. “Based on the advice of our legal counsel, to avoid the risk associated with a jury trial, the department decided to settle the case to avoid the further expense of litigation.”
Beverly Grant, an attorney representing Denson, said that her client “had a very strong case,” but he found the state’s offer to be fair and was ready to get on with his life.
“The client felt that he wanted to accept it and move forward,” Grant said in an interview Wednesday. “Lawsuits are very time consuming — lots of paper — and he felt it was in the best interest of his family, and (himself) and his well being, to accept the offer at this time. It was a win-win as far as he was concerned.”
Prior to the settlement, the case had been scheduled to go to trial in September, court records show.
