Clark County’s legal troubles continued Tuesday, as the county planning director filed a tort claim asking for $750,000 in damages connected to his ongoing complaints about county Councilor David Madore.
The complaint alleges that Community Planning Director Oliver Orjiako has suffered as the result of a hostile work environment, and has “sustained damage to his professional reputation and good name.”
The claim is largely based on the results of Seattle attorney Rebecca Dean’s independent investigation of Orjiako’s whistleblower and harassment complaints against Madore, Madore’s allegations of misconduct by county planning staff, and allegations union members made against Madore of unfair labor practices.
According to the report, Madore’s allegations that county staff lied about the impacts of Alternative 4, Madore’s proposed zoning policy to the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan update, were false “in all material respects.”
“Oliver’s a man of principle,” said Greg Ferguson, Orjiako’s attorney. “He stands by his belief that what went on here was very wrong. To walk away at this point would not be consistent with his notions of fairness and what’s right and what’s wrong.”
In the complaint, Orjiako alleges he suffered a “post-complaint campaign of retaliation” by Madore through the councilor’s controversial Facebook page, causing Orjiako distress and anxiety in line with a “hostile” and “oppressive working environment.”
The complaint also references Dean’s findings that while Madore did not retaliate against Orjiako, a black man, based on race, that there was some “limited evidence” of race-based hostility on the councilor’s part. Dean reported being troubled by a “race card” meme Madore posted on his Facebook page after Orjiako accused him of treating the planner “less favorably than other white male department heads.” That meme, which Madore later defended, depicted a king of spades card with President Barack Obama’s face superimposed on the king’s head.
The tort claim also points to email exchanges in which Madore told staff in the county prosecuting attorney’s office that he had been emailing himself copies of text messages he believed were public records then deleting them from his phone. The complaint alleges Madore did so with “knowledge of a duty to preserve such documents, and has engaged in spoilation of evidence.”
He also alleges that Councilor Tom Mielke pressured County Manager Mark McCauley to take disciplinary action against Orjiako, asking that the director be put on administrative leave while Dean investigated.
Madore could not be reached for comment. Mielke, meanwhile, defended his request that Orjiako be placed on administrative leave while Dean conducted her investigation. Having Orjiako in the room in the midst of an investigation could only create a hostile work environment, he said.
“If he’s still there and we have to tippy-toe around him, then we’re not really in the discussion where they need to be,” Mielke said.
The tort claim was filed less than two hours after Clark County’s window of opportunity ended to respond to a subpoena Ferguson had served to Madore. That subpoena demanded all text messages, billing statements and call logs from any cellphone Madore has used for public business since taking office in 2013. The subpoena is in connection to a separate lawsuit Orjiako has filed against Clark County, alleging it allowed Madore to destroy and withhold public records.
Madore failed to comply with that subpoena, Ferguson said. The councilor turned over 57 pages of text messages he had emailed to himself to archive since taking office, but not the messages in their original form. He also failed to turn over billing statements and call logs.
Madore’s attorney, Nick Power, said in a letter to Ferguson that the subpoena was “overbroad and seeks private records that are irrelevant and are not likely to lead to relevant evidence.”
“Rather, it appears this subpoena is designed only to harass, embarrass, expose private information, and subject my client to the burdens of production with little regard for seeking relevant material,” he said.
State law gives Clark County 60 days to respond to the tort claim.
