$3.125M settlement reached in disabled woman’s case against WA AG’s Office and DSHS
The Washington state Department of Social and Health Services and the state Attorney General’s Office have reached a settlement agreement for $3.125 million in a case involving a woman with developmental disabilities.
According to Brionna Aho, communications director for the state AG’s office, the parties reached an agreed resolution in the case. The court must approve the settlement agreement before it becomes final.
The settlement agreement will be paid out of the State Insurance Liability Account, which is funded by Washington taxpayers.
The lawsuit was filed against the state in November 2021 for failing to provide adequate case management and failing to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect involving the woman.
“(The plaintiff) is grateful to the Court for stepping forward and taking initial steps to hold the Office of the Attorney General Accountable,” David P. Moody, the plaintiff’s attorney, told McClatchy in an email Monday.
He said that when the plaintiff’s mother died, her mother’s best friend took the plaintiff into her life and became her guardian.
“Not only did the Office of the Attorney General withhold critical evidence in the lawsuit, it blamed (the plaintiff’s) guardian,” Moody continued. “The Office of the Attorney General was caught cheating. It’s as simple as that. The fact that it cheated in a craven attempt to dismiss the claims brought by a developmentally disabled woman makes this particularly offensive. The Office of the Attorney General represents all of us. Withholding evidence is not something that the public should tolerate.”
He said that the plaintiff’s guardians were grateful that the case is coming to a close, “but they are understandably livid at the Office of the Attorney General for the stunt it pulled in trying to conceal evidence.”
In addition to the $3.125 million agreed upon by both parties, the AG’s office and DSHS were previously ordered to pay fines for withholding documents from discovery.
The court first sanctioned the AG’s Office and DSHS $200,000 in late March for withholding nearly 11,000 documents that “substantially prejudiced the plaintiff in preparing for trial,” according to King County Superior Court Judge Michael K. Ryan.
Those documents were found after the AG’s Office moved for a summary judgment on the plaintiff’s claims, while also seeking to prevent the plaintiff from taking a deposition that would have addressed discovery in the case, among other things.
Days after the judge sanctioned the agencies for those discovery violations, the AG’s Office admitted that it found more than 100,000 pages pertaining to the same case that were not previously turned over.
Discovery Master Russell Aoki was then appointed by the judge to review all briefings and all discovery produced by DSHS. Aoki is appointed at the expense of the AG’s Office and DSHS at a billable rate of $500 per hour.
The state AG’s Office and DSHS were later also ordered to pay the woman’s attorney fees totaling $122,555.
“Back when it was withholding key evidence, the Office of the Attorney General said that (the plaintiff’s) case should be dismissed,” Moody noted in his email to McClatchy.
Aho noted that prior to resolving the case, the AG’s office conducted an internal review to determine what happened. She provided McClatchy with a discovery timeline gathered from AGO and DSHS employees who worked on the case and reviewed agency emails. That account was provided to the discovery master when he was appointed to the case.
“AG Ferguson recognizes that the buck stops with him,” Aho told McClatchy in an email Monday. “Discovery sanctions are unacceptable. The issues that led to the sanctions highlight the need for better communication with our client.
“Additionally, one of the issues involved miscommunication between the lead attorney and the attorneys assigned to assist with the case while the lead was on leave. We are reviewing our discovery protocols to determine what changes are appropriate. AG Ferguson is overseeing a review. A personnel investigation is ongoing.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2023 at 11:57 AM.
