Deputies sue Chelan County, sheriff in federal court over 'political support' in 2022
CCSO deputies
From left to right: Chelan County deputies Christopher Eakle, Austin Key, Lucas McComas and Ian Sutton.
Four Chelan County Sheriff's Office deputies who in December filed an $8 million tort claim against their employer have taken their case to federal court.
The claim was filed by Christopher Eakle, Austin Key, Lucas McComas and Ian Sutton, who argued that the sheriff's office, county and Sheriff Mike Morrison violated their First Amendment rights when they were demoted in 2023.
Tort claims often are precursors to a lawsuit if the county rejects the claim. The four deputies filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Washington's Eastern District.
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Former Sheriff Brian Burnett ran for reelection in 2022 against Morrison. In September 2022, three of the four deputies, with the exception of Sutton, were promoted to sergeants by Burnett.
The deputies had completed a civil service test that ranked them in the top four positions for promotion to sergeant, according to the lawsuit.
The Chelan County Civil Service Commission, a three-member panel appointed by commissioners, arbitrates how public employees like deputies are hired, promoted or suspended.
Sheriff Mike Morrison mug.jpg
Mike Morrison
During the election, the plaintiffs claim that both Burnett and Morrison "began using Chelan County law enforcement personnel for personal gain," according to the lawsuit.
The four deputies were featured in a list of endorsements on a "Burnett for Sheriff" Facebook page posted on Oct. 6, 2022.
Morrison also posted a list of law enforcement endorsements, which includes currently employed deputies on a "Morrison for Chelan County Sheriff" Facebook page on Oct. 31, 2022.
"Both candidates implicitly, if not directly, compelled law enforcement personnel to declare their allegiance and then support them respectively," according to the lawsuit.
The county was allegedly aware that both candidates were using law enforcement personnel for "personal gain."
The plaintiffs claim that when Morrison won the election, they feared he'd retaliate against them for supporting Burnett and would "punitively demote them for their political support."
The four deputies claim that Burnett himself also feared that Morrison would retaliate.
In order to protect them, Burnett, according to the lawsuit, asked the civil service commission to reclassify plaintiffs to deputies to protect "their merit entitlements to their sergeant's rankings" they had received earlier that year.
On Dec. 30, 2022, however, Morrison said in an email he would not allow anyone to voluntarily reduce their rank. He then demoted the recently promoted sergeants down to deputy on Jan. 1.
Morrison is currently asking a judge to review a decision by the civil service commission over reinstating these sergeants in his department.
The commission declined to establish a process to test and rank candidates for sergeants, instead opting to refer to an existing sergeant reinstatement list that includes the four plaintiffs.
"Morrison made multiple statements tying his demotion of Plaintiffs to Plaintiffs' speech in favor of Sheriff Burnett, including discussing how all four Plaintiffs allegedly had Sheriff Brian Burnett signs in their yards, and donated to Sheriff Burnett's campaign," according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are also claiming that Chelan County failed to properly investigate this matter when Eakles and McComas filed complaints in the summer of 2024 to the county's human resources department.
The plaintiffs are suing for damages, attorney fees and any injunctive relief as a result of violations to their First Amendment rights.
Morrison said in an email that he is unable to comment because it's a matter of pending litigation.
"I still respect the legal process and have faith in the system, and I will allow the matter to proceed through the appropriate channels," he said in an email. "We will continue ensuring all employees are treated with fairness, respect, and dignity while protecting constitutional rights, just as we do for all that we serve."
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