County to Pay $150,000 Settlement in 2017 Discrimination Lawsuit Against Assessor's Office

Aug. 25--Three years after a former employee in the Lewis County Assessor's Office filed a lawsuit against the county alleging discrimination based on disability and a hostile work environment, the two parties have reached a settlement.

Lewis County has agreed to pay $150,000 to the plaintiff to settle the case.

"The risk pool felt it would be a higher risk to take it to court in front of a jury," said Assessor Dianne Dorey of the county's decision to settle.

The settlement was handled by attorneys Suzanne Kelly Michael and Scott Prange of Fisher & Phillips LLP representing Lewis County and attorney Michael W. Johns of RJH Legal representing the plaintiff.

Further details of the proposed settlement have not yet been made public. The notice of settlement was filed in Thurston County Superior Court on Aug. 5, with the parties requesting 45 days to file a stipulated order of dismissal for the lawsuit and to finalize and receive settlement payments. The case had been scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 23.

The lawsuit was initially filed in August 2017 on behalf of Virginia Anne Watson, a former employee with the Lewis County Assessor's Office who claimed she experienced discrimination within the assessor's office following her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2006.

According to the court documents, Watson disclosed her diagnosis to her employer in 2007, which resulted in a request from Dorey for a "fit-for-duty" medical examination.

In a recent interview with The Chronicle, Dorey said she followed the advice of the county's risk pool attorney and was told that she handled the situation correctly.

Documents filed with the lawsuit claim Dorey "often made rude, unwelcome comments in the Lewis County workplace to plaintiff Watson in front of coworkers."

Watson requested reasonable accommodation from the county in November 2014, which was not granted, and instead Watson was placed on administrative leave, according to court documents.

Later an accommodation analysis was conducted in December 2014, ultimately leading to Watson's termination after the county stated she was no longer capable of performing the essential functions of her job.

"She was not able to do the job at 100% of her ability, so I had to dismiss her," said Dorey in a recent interview with The Chronicle.

According to the lawsuit, Watson "had an impeccable work performance history" and never received a poor performance review until 2014 after she filed claims of discrimination and harassment, according to court documents.

Court documents state Watson suffered severe emotional distress as a direct result of the discriminatory conduct that allegedly took place.

Watson filed a tort claim in May 2017 asking for $900,000 in damages. The lawsuit was filed in Thurston County Superior Court a few months later.

Watson's attorney did not respond to The Chronicle's request for comment by press deadline.

----Previous The Chronicle coverage was used in this report.

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