3 Tri-Cities Animal Shelter leaders sued for using donations to pay themselves bonuses

Top employees of the Tri-Cities Animal Shelter paid themselves bonuses and bought a home for their now-married adult children after a more than half-million-dollar donation earlier this year, according to recent legal filings.

Julie Chambers and Rebecca Howard both received $10,000 bonuses and Justin Hernandez got a $5,000 bonus, attorneys for the city of Pasco allege in a lawsuit brought against the three.

The bonuses came after Chambers — chief financial officer for Neo’s Nation Animal Foundation — allegedly siphoned another $300,000 from the shelter account to buy a Richland home for her family, the suit states.

The lawsuit says the trio used donated funds for their personal benefit, and even “fraudulently induced the delivery of (a retired railroad engineer’s estate) gift,” knowing the money would not go toward caring for animals in the region.

Chambers so far is the only leader criminally charged in the alleged embezzlement.

But Pasco and Franklin County investigators continue to look into what happened, including reviewing records from financial institutions, Prosecutor Shawn Sant told the Tri-City Herald.

Shelter fallout

Howard claimed in another legal filing that she’s the one who started the investigation against Chambers, who she said threatened her after she fired Chambers from working there on June 16. The firing came a month before Howard’s daughter and Chambers’ son were married.

The lawsuit, filed in Benton County Superior Court, seeks to recoup the money donated by Thomas Ashby of Pasco after the 93-year-old’s death last February.

It accuses Howard, Chambers, Hernandez and Neo’s Nation of unjust enrichment, breach of contract and willfully interfering with the city of Pasco’s property by converting personal property for personal use.

Neo’s Nation is the nonprofit that was in charge of the Pasco animal shelter, along with animal control services for the Tri-Cities.

The nonprofit’s $875,000 yearly contract started Jan. 1, with Pasco, Kennewick and Richland equally sharing the costs for services.

Charitable donations

Since the three cities are not permitted to accept donations on behalf of the shelter, Neo’s Nation was made responsible for soliciting gifts and collecting “donations from the community for the care of animals,” the lawsuit states.

All donations were to be used “exclusively for charitable and educational purposes.”

Howard is the head of Neo’s Nation and was director of the shelter, Chambers was the finance manager and Hernandez was the shelter manager or general operations manager.

The three are employed by Neo’s Nation and were not employees for the city of Pasco.

The organization’s contract was terminated Thursday in light of the recent controversies, which includes the sudden removal of dozens of neglected or abused dogs and cats, said city officials.

“The bad faith, criminal behavior of its individual employees has resulted in financial loss to the cities, including Pasco, as it was contemplated by the parties that any gift or donations to the (shelter) would benefit animals housed in the facility, offset the costs of operating the (shelter), and the city of Pasco is jointly responsible for the costs of operating the (shelter),” the suit states.

Neo’s Nation received a $545,000 donation in April from Ashby’s estate.

Felony charges

Prosecutors allege Chambers then withdrew a large chunk of that money from the foundation’s account without permission in order to buy a south Richland home with cash and pay off her credit cards.

Her defense attorney says they have evidence that Chambers was owed the money and no crime was committed.

But in the meantime, Pasco lawyers got a judge to put a lien on the 632 Meadows Drive East home to prevent Chambers from selling the home and hiding the money in an an attempt to “delay or defraud ... her creditors.”

Chambers lives in Kennewick and not in the Richland home.

Documents show the three-bedroom and two-bath house was purchased for $365,000 on April 27. Her son and Howard’s daughter, who have since married, reportedly have been living in the home.

A recent Zillow search has it listed as “For sale by owner,” with Chambers asking for $419,000.

In July, Howard sought an order for protection against Chambers, saying she’d been the victim of unlawful harassment which had caused her “substantial emotional distress.”

A judge denied the request for failing to “show a pattern of behavior.”

In the petition, Howard said that after Chambers was fired in June, she came back to the South 18th Avenue shelter, got in Howard’s face and made a vulgar statement.

Howard said she believed Chambers “would have placed her hands on me” if the shelter manager had not been there at the time.

The petition said Pasco police were called to remove Chambers for trespassing.

Howard claimed she later received a text message from Chambers’ ex-husband telling her “not to risk the kid’s house.”

Howard’s daughter married Chambers’ son in August.

Howard noted that as of the July 7 filing, she had not paid Chambers “her final paycheck as she has not turned in her equipment/employer information.”

Howard was seen packing up her car Thursday at the shelter as police were searching the buildings and removing animals that officials say were neglected. The animals and the shelter operation was handed over the Benton-Franklin Human Society with help from other pet rescue groups.

Howard could not be reached by the Herald this week about the investigation and problems at the shelter.

This story was originally published November 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.