W. Richland said chief did nothing wrong. Officers claim retaliation began immediately

A state commission will decide if West Richland police have targeted and discriminated against two officers who have been critical of the department’s chief.

The Public Employment Relations Commission has agreed to hold a hearing about how city officials have treated Sgt. Athena Clark and Officer Roman Seipert.

The commission is a Washington state agency responsible for overseeing public sector labor relations. They weigh in on disputes between governments such as cities, counties and school districts and the unions that work under them.

In this case, the two officers have been central in a “no confidence” vote against Chief Thomas Grego that has escalated to calls that he step down.

West Richland Mayor Brent Gerry has previously downplayed the dispute, saying that the chief hasn’t violated any laws, policies or the collective bargaining agreement.

But Sgt. Clark, in particular, accused the chief of retaliating against her after she questioned the chief’s behavior and refusing to drink alcohol at an event while she served as one of the department’s commanders.

Officer Seipert alleges the harassment aimed at him was enough to push him out of the department, according to the complaint.

The union is looking for the commission to find that their rights had been violated and require training for city officials regarding those rights.

Grego stepped into the chief’s position in May 2022 after more than 20 years with the department and five years as the department’s captain under former Chief Ben Majetich.

West Richland has 19 officers, not including two commanders and the chief.

The annual salary range for the position is listed as $156,000 to $204,000, according to budget documents.

The police department serves the about 23-square-mile city with a population of roughly 17,000.

Labor complaint

The complaint, written by union attorney Dan Thenell, says the chief’s retaliation against Clark started in July. The 23-year veteran of the department had been appointed as a commander shortly after Grego took over the department.

But she stepped down “due to her continued observations of misconduct by Chief Grego.”

She was told she was under a “personal directive for the way she should call in sick or late to work.” This is unlike any other sergeants or employees. She was told that the chief had her “under the microscope.”

Clark took her concerns about the chief to the human resources department and the mayor on Oct. 25, 2023. During that conversation, Gerry asked if there had been a vote of no confidence by the union.

Clark explained at that point that there was a pattern of retaliation against officers who spoke out about the chief, and officers were concerned what would happen.

The sergeant gave the city a detailed letter containing her concerns on Oct. 31, and then on Nov. 16, the association passed a vote of no confidence.

Then Association President Jared Paulsen met with the mayor and human resources on Dec. 4, 2023, to talk about vote. They asked for a “neutral third-party fact finder,” according to the complaint.

They raised concerns that the chief was mentally and emotionally unstable, targeted people who disagreed with him and made questionable decisions because of those issues, the complaint said.

The city hired Janice Corbin of Sound Employment Solutions, and the complaint alleges that they were led to believe she would be a “neutral third-party investigation.”

Shortly after that investigation started Seipert sent an email to Gerry expressing his concern that the vote of no confidence was being “swept under the rug.” The officer said the retaliation and hostile work environment was continuing, the complaint said.

Corbin conducted her interviews in January and February, and then presented preliminary findings during a Feb. 22 meeting.

Union officials said they were blindsided during that meeting by learning that Corbin wasn’t conducting an investigation. Instead it was a climate survey, she didn’t interview key people involved, including Clark.

“It was apparent that Janice and Mayor Gerry were working in concert to protect Chief Grego,” the complaint said.

The union then held a second vote of no confidence, which was unanimous.

Alleged retaliation

Gerry expressed his support for Grego formally in an April 3 memo to the union, according to complaint. Corbin’s report came out at the same time and found that there wasn’t any evidence that Grego engaged in misconduct.

Union officials have said the “climate survey” wasn’t the investigation that they wanted, and its findings were just a way for them to save face.

Even before the report was finished, the union claimed the retaliation against Clark had already started.

The city began an internal investigation into Clark on Jan. 31 over what they claimed was time card fraud. The complaint said that the Benton County Sheriff’s Office was initially called in to investigate, but bowed out because it seemed that it was retaliation.

The investigation hasn’t been finished, according to the complaint.

Clark received a “general counseling form” for failing to turn in a quarterly report on April 15. She had been out of the office at the time on an approved medical leave.

She was given two more counseling forms on May 14 for incidents relating to officers under her command that happened on May 3 and 6. The PERC complaint said that she wasn’t at work at the time or able to be responsible.

The complaint alleges that Seipert also faced repercussions, including an internal investigation started in early May accusing him of dishonesty. The complaint said that Seipert made the report in good faith.

Seipert ended up resigning from the department on June 28.

Hearing

The commission sees about 200 unfair labor practice complaints a year, commission Executive Director Mike Sellars told the Tri-City Herald.

Normally once the commission accepts a case, they assign it to a hearings examiner, who will schedule a hearing. That examiner will decide if the city violated state labor laws.

For now, the city has been informed that it has about a month to file a response to the accusations.

The examiner is allowed to have the city cover any attorney’s fees or other costs incurred because of their decisions, but they aren’t able to levy any other punishments.

A date for the hearing hasn’t been set.

This story was originally published July 25, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "W. Richland said chief did nothing wrong. Officers claim retaliation began immediately."