Former employee sues Grant County, prosecutor

SPOKANE — A former Grant County deputy prosecutor is suing the county, former boss and the human resources director in U.S. District Court for wrongful termination.

Teresa Chen’s civil suit claims when Angus Lee fired her, he violated her rights under the Family Medical Leave Act, Washington public policy and it was disability discrimination, according to the complaint.

This is the second lawsuit filed against Lee by a former employee, both handled by attorney Steven Lacy.

Lee is accused of starting a “pattern of adverse behavior” against Chen after he fired Administrative Assistant Cathleen Neils and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Steve Hallstrom and laid off two other employees. The former deputy claims Lee restricted her work hours, eliminated her access to Web sites necessary to do her job and assigned her additional work without giving her more time, according to the complaint.

Chen was one of seven deputy prosecutors who signed a “no confidence” letter sent to the Grant County commissioners before Lee was selected to fill the position in January. The deputy prosecutors expressed concern “that Lee did not have adequate experience, that Lee had inadequate leadership skills, and that Lee lacked the support and confidence of the staff,” according to the complaint.

The treatment allegedly caused Chen stress and anxiety, forcing her to talk with the human resources department and Lee about taking intermittent medical leave, according to the complaint. A doctor recommended Chen take “straight leave” starting on April 2, 2009, and provided her with a note to release her from work.

She turned in the note and her request for leave in the same day, giving the human resources director permission to share it with Lee, according to the complaint. Chen e-mailed Lee the next day, apologizing for not meeting with him and requesting to be kept informed about pending legal matters.

Chen claims Lee called her on April 6, instructing her to resign. She told him she intended to return to work after her health improved, according to the complaint. Lee allegedly threatened to demote her and would require her to see a doctor daily.

The same day, Chen’s access to the prosecutor’s office server were blocked, according to the complaint.

A week later, Lee spotted Chen in Grant County District Court. He asked her why she was here, when she responded she was there to support a friend, Lee questioned whether she was supposed to be in bed, according to the complaint. After directing an investigator to “interrogate Chen regarding any conversation she may have had with her friend or her friend’s lawyer,” Chen’s attorney claims Lee and his office continued to contact her.

The phone calls continued until Lee reportedly demanded Chen to call him by 8 a.m. on April 16. She told them she had a doctor’s appointment at the time, and received a note from the doctor for Lee to stop trying to contact her.

Later the same day, Lee sent Chen a package with her personal belongings and a letter stating she was fired, according to the complaint.

Lee called the lawsuit a frivolous, politically-timed attack, made by a donor to Albert Lin’s campaign. Chen donated $500 to Lee’s challenger in the November election, according to state Public Disclosure Commission.

“When she filed it as a tort claim the county’s insurance agency, Canfield and Associates reviewed it and they found it to be frivolous at the time,” he said. “It is just as frivolous today as it was back then.”

The prosecutor also pointed out the claim was filed more than four months ago, allowing Chen’s attorney to file the lawsuit any time in the last two months after a mandatory 60 day response period from the county.

He added the lawsuit was referred to Grant County’s insurance company’s attorneys, and he focused on his job.

Grant County Commissioner Cindy Carter had no comment on the lawsuit other than she will be glad when the election is over.

Chen called Lee’s accusation “offensive,” saying she didn’t have any control over the filing of the lawsuit.

“None of the delay had anything to do with me,” she said. “How does it make sense that this is politically-timed when most of the ballots are in.”

This was echoed by Chen’s attorney, who said the delay was because of a backlog of work caused by an attorney becoming sick.

“The attorney assigned to draft this detailed complaint became ill and had to take time off,” Lacy said. “Interestingly, if we had hoped to use the filing as a means of having an effect on the Grant County election we would have filed it weeks ago.”

Grant County Auditor Bill Varney said about 25 percent of the ballots mailed out were returned as of Tuesday, adding he’s hoping 50 percent of the ballots will return for the election.