An independent investigation into claims of unsafe working conditions and labor-law violations at Bellingham Municipal Court concluded that most of the claims were unfounded.
In a report dated Feb. 1 and posted briefly on the Municipal Court’s website, investigator Sarah Wixson of the Seattle law firm Stokes Lawrence found little evidence to substantiate claims of a hostile work environment. Even so, her report described a cliquish, toxic culture among court employees that enabled disputes to fester and grow to the point that three employees walked off the job on May 27, 2021. The court ultimately identified five employees as participating in the walkout, and all five were fired in July.
Well before this latest investigation, Mayor Seth Fleetwood initiated his own investigation in May that sided with the employees who walked off the job. The mayor’s investigation concluded that the court’s jail alternatives and diversion manager stalked and surveilled employees, and posed a threat to their safety.
The city put the diversion manager on administrative leave, along with a second administrator who had refused to participate in the mayor’s investigation. The city also placed the five employees who walked out on paid administrative leave.
Municipal Court Judge Debra Lev reinstated the manager and the administrator and sued the city and the mayor in May, claiming they violated separation of powers by investigating workplace conditions at the Municipal Court.
In a statement to Cascadia Daily News, Fleetwood defended his actions from the time: “I acted on credible information of workplace misconduct and authorized an independent investigation to look into those claims. My only interest was ensuring a safe and healthy working environment for all employees.”
The city’s executive branch settled its legal dispute with the court in September. The mayor acknowledged in the settlement that Judge Lev has authority over workplace discipline in the court.
The Municipal Court handles certain cases initiated within the Bellingham city limits, including city code violations, traffic infractions and misdemeanor crimes.
The walkout and claims of unsafe working conditions, among other problems, led Local 1937 of the Guild of Pacific Northwest Employees to file seven separate grievances against municipal court management. The Guild also filed a discrimination complaint with the city’s human resources department and an unfair labor practice complaint with the Public Employment Relations Commission. The union withdrew all of these complaints after the city agreed to find the five fired workers jobs in other city departments, according to a July 2021 report in The Bellingham Herald.
In August 2021, with most of the workplace disputes behind it, the court decided it still wanted to get to the bottom of what had happened inside its offices over the past few years and hired Wixson to investigate.
“As a reflection of how seriously the court took the matter, an external investigator was hired to perform an independent and comprehensive investigation of the employees’ concerns,” Lev said in a message posted on the court’s website. “I believe the public has a right to know the full results of this seven-month investigation, particularly the conclusion that the employees’ stated concerns provided no basis for their walkout.”
The investigation examined 22 separate claims against court management and found merit to only two. An administrator had commented on an employee’s religious preference and had mentioned an employee’s medical condition in an email without permission. The investigation found no evidence that the court administration had created a hostile work environment or had discriminated against employees on religious grounds.
The investigation also dismissed claims by the aggrieved employees that they had been improperly disciplined or that their work responsibilities had been changed in retaliation for reporting safety concerns. Wixson’s report also contradicted the mayor’s investigation, finding no evidence that the court’s diversion manager had created an unsafe work environment by stalking or surveilling employees.
The investigation concluded that much of the conflict at the Municipal Court was a result of chronic miscommunication and misunderstandings.
“This independent investigation has reinforced that open, transparent and honest communication is integral to productive working relationships,” Lev said in her statement.
This story was updated to remove a link to the Feb. 1 Municipal Court workplace investigation. The report was removed from the Municipal Court website.
