Tallying the Cost of Lawsuits, Settlements to Chelan County Under Sheriff Brian Burnett
A ballpark of what labor disputes and litigation have cost Chelan County taxpayers during Burnett's tenure as Chelan County Sheriff
The wrongful termination lawsuits brought against Chelan County Sheriff Brian Burnett’s administration, as well as the settlements the county has paid out to avoid further lawsuits, have been covered by other regional media outlets. But so far, no one has attempted to tally the total cost of the suits, settlements, and arbitrations as well as the back pay and lawyer’s fees, arbitrator fees, etc., the county has paid out during Burnett’s administration.
So I compiled the publicly-available data, got more information on the backpay former Chelan County Sheriff’s Deputies Jennifer Tyler and Mike Harris were awarded and spoke with former Chelan County Deputy Sheriff's Association presidents to get an idea of how much arbitrations cost the county. Then I came up with a ballpark number of about $3,000,000. Here’s how I got there.
First, let’s start with the numbers that have been reported so far and add those up.
We have the wrongful termination lawsuit former deputy Jennifer Tyler won against the county in 2018, in which she was awarded $955,500 from a Douglas County judge and jury.
Then we have the previously-undisclosed second settlement with Tyler to the tune of $455,000. Also interesting about this second settlement is the fact that Tyler is getting paid in monthly installments and is still on the county payroll even though she hasn’t worked a day for the county since 2019.
And finally, we have the $425,000 awarded to former Sergeant Mike Harris in late 2021 to settle his wrongful termination lawsuit.
That’s a total of $1,835,500.
Adding In The Backpay
But that’s not counting the backpay, benefits, and interest both deputies were awarded in those suits and settlements. I reached out to both Tyler and Harris for this piece and asked them about their cases. Harris is bound by the non-disclosure clause that is a part of his settlement, and Jennifer Tyler is also when it comes to her second settlement. But she was willing to talk to me about her first case since she is not bound by any NDA regarding that. She told me she was out of work for 30 months prior to coming back to Chelan County as a deputy in 2013.
Figuring out her backpay was pretty simple since I have her payroll records and settlement documents from public records requests. Below is a screenshot of her April 2021 pay stub.
According to her payroll records for 2021, she earned $7583.27 per month gross. The reason I’m using the gross is because this is an article about the cost to the taxpayers, not the deputies’ take-home pay. That amount multiplied by 30 equals $227,498. Add 12 percent interest and that brings the total up to about $255,000.
After her second termination, Tyler was out of work from Aug. 2019 to March 2021 – another 19 months. She sued for wrongful termination again, and this time the county settled with her for the $455,000, which has been reported. But she was entitled to roughly $161,372 more for backpay and interest. That brings the total cost up of that second settlement to about $616,372.
Then you have Mike Harris’s case. You may remember that his problems within the department started when he was chief of patrol and started looking for a missing military-issued M16 that disappeared from CCSO’s armory.
He was demoted to deputy and then eventually fired in March 2015. The deputy’s union went into arbitration over that, and Harris was reinstated in June 2016. So he was out of work for 14 months, and according to that arbitration award, his employer was required to make him whole for all “backpay, benefits and appropriate retirement fund contributions from the date of discharge.”
Harris was reinstated at the rank of deputy. According to payroll records, the average deputy at Chelan County Sheriff’s Office makes about $89,000 gross annually. So 14 months of backpay, including 12 percent interest, would be about $113,919.
Then he came back in May 2016 and filed a lawsuit in 2017, alleging he was the victim of retaliation and bullying since returning to work. The county settled that case on Nov. 1, 2021, for $425,000.
So just to recap the approximate cost of the suits and settlements when adding in backpay and interest:
Jennifer Tyler’s first lawsuit and backpay – $1,210,298
Jennifer Tyler’s second lawsuit/settlement and backpay – $616,372
Mike Harris’ lawsuit settlement and backpay – $538,919
That’s a ballpark grand total of $2,365,589 for settlements and backpay for two individuals and we haven’t even factored in most of the fees for lawyers and arbitrators.
So I reached out to retired CCSO deputies and guild presidents to get a better idea of the Harris situation. Former deputy Doug Corulli was not president when they engaged in arbitration on Harris’ behalf, but he was in union leadership at that time. He said during his time in guild leadership, Harris’ “was the most one-sided arbitration I’ve ever seen.”
He added that the guild wins “almost every time when we go to mediation.” He said if Burnett and the county think they’ll lose in arbitration, “they’ll wait until a day or two” beforehand and offer a monetary settlement to avoid going through the process. Sometimes they’ll offer a settlement minutes before arbitration is set to begin. The idea is to pay off the officer before the issue is made public.
“There’s no official record,” Corulli said. “It’s just a waste of money.”
He said most of the time, the arbitrator is already on the clock at that point, and usually, they’re from out of state. He said it costs about “six to seven grand” for their services, plus lodging and travel. During his time with CCSO and the guild, he said situations like this occurred three times.
“The sheriff doesn’t care because it’s not his money,” he said.
Adding in Arbitrator and Attorney Fees
To handle the Tyler and Harris cases, Chelan County retained attorneys from the Jeffers, Danielson, Sonn & Aylward, P.S. law firm at a rate of $450 an hour, plus expenses. It should also be noted that every time the county loses or settles a suit, it pays the plaintiff’s legal fees as well.
Adding in the three pre-arbitration settlements Burnett’s administration agreed to before they became public knowledge, the cost of arbitration for the three labor disputes that evolved into lawsuits, and attorney fees the county accrued on both sides during those cases, it’s fair to estimate at least an additional $500,000 in cost to the taxpayers.
That brings the estimated grand total up to $2,865,598.
Burnett has repeatedly said on the campaign trail this season that it’s not unusual for other departments to be sued and settle cases and pay out money like this. But some current and former CCSO deputies disagree and say Burnett’s administration is an outlier. They say he’s making a reputation for himself as an anti-labor sheriff who’s not afraid to lose lawsuits to make a political point.
One deputy who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation agreed that Burnett does not care about the price tag of the lawsuits and settlements and provided further insights into Burnett and his administration’s labor relations.
“I think his blatant disregard for caselaw and PERC rulings and employee rights is clear. It’s been loss after loss with them and they don’t care,” he said. “He’s not a complex individual. He’s very simple. He’s just a spoiled brat and a bully.”
What’s Next
Election Day is Nov. 8, 2022, and regardless of whether or not Burnett wins reelection, Jennifer Tyler’s federal lawsuit against him and Chelan County is set to start in May 2023. Her lawyers are demanding no less than $1,000,000 in damages for that case. So I’ll be keeping my eye on that.
In the meantime, I’m working on a comparison of Chelan County’s payouts over labor disputes versus other Washington state sheriff’s departments and will publish that when it’s ready.
Thank you
Thank you Dominick for bringing more light and minimal heat to these important issues in our community.