Ex-health district director accused of secretly videotaping Tri-Cities staff. 3 women sue

Three women are suing the Benton Franklin Health District, accusing it of hiring a district administrator they claim had a history of sexual misconduct and videotaped employees at work.

Jason Zaccaria resigned in July 2023 days after the health district board received complaints about him and he was placed on administrative leave, according to Kennewick Police Department reports.

Eight months earlier union leaders for the health district staff told the board that workers had no confidence in Zaccaria, who was the district administrator for 12 years.

The lawsuit filed in Walla Walla County names Benton and Franklin counties, the health district board and Zaccaria as defendants, in addition to the health district.

“The district’s position is that it acted legally and appropriately at all material times relative to the employment of Mr. Zaccaria and the district will vigorously defend what it regards as a baseless claim,” the health district said in a statement to the Tri-City Herald.

Zaccaria could not be reached about the lawsuit.

After Zaccaria was placed on leave by Benton County Commissioner Will McKay, the chairman of the health district board, Zaccaria’s office was searched.

Police said they found pornography along with electronic thumb drives with videos taken without permission of five women employees at work, according to the police reports.

Three of the women who were videotaped filed the lawsuit. They are Lisa Wight, the former senior manager of human resources for the district; Bonnie Hall, the district’s contracts and billing manager; and Angee Chavez, a payroll coordinator who formerly was a human resources assistant.

The lawsuit says that the health district failed to prevent workplace sexual harassment and retaliation by Zaccaria and also claimed that district officials were warned when he was hired that he allegedly had a history of workplace sexual misconduct for apparently having an affair with a subordinate.

At that time the health district board was made up of the Benton and Franklin county commissioners, and the health district administrator reports to the board.

The board chose to recruit and select the district administrator, bypassing the district’s human resource department to hire Zaccaria, the lawsuit says.

Harassment claims

Once Zaccaria was hired, the three plaintiffs said he would request hugs and give them birthday or holiday gifts they found inappropriate, such as scented lotions.

They were worried about offending him after he laid off two senior division directors in early 2013, according to the lawsuit. A reorganization at the same time included eliminating programs to trim the budget.

The plaintiffs also said he appeared to know personal information about them that they had not shared with him.

The three plaintiffs and one of the other women who were videotaped said they had concerns that Zaccaria had been bugging their offices, according to a Kennewick police report and the lawsuit.

When McKay became aware of allegations against Zaccaria, a female employee talked with at least 20 other staff and confirmed that other women also reported feeling pressured to hug him or being subjected to comments that veered toward being personal, such as a suggestion that one woman wear her hair down, according to a police report.

McKay spoke to Zaccaria, who said the recordings of female staff were “just a prank,” according to the police report. The lawsuit said there were about 140 recordings, including about 100 total of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs also accused Zaccaria of discrimination and retaliation.

District officials “failed to properly supervise Zaccaria and ensure he wouldn’t abuse his power — which he did,” Hall said.

No criminal charges were filed.

Wight resigned in 2023 alleging the health district was a hostile work environment, and Hall began to work remotely, according to the lawsuit.

Hall and Chavez say they continue to be treated with hostility and feel ostracized from co-workers, according to the lawsuit.

This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 5:00 AM.