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Former Woodinville Fire & Life Safety District Fire Chief Dennis Johnson has filed a wrongful termination suit against the WFLSD, as well as fire commissioners Clint Olson and Randy Ransom.
The complaint and summons, filed in King County’s Superior Court on June 30, 2010, seeks damages for "procedural due process violations, age discrimination, breach of contract and wrongful withholding of wages, and breach of promise of specific treatment in specific situations."
Johnson, who is being represented by Keane Law Offices of Seattle, was fired by the district without cause on June 18, 2009.
Court documents prepared by attorney T. Jeffrey Keane allege the following "background facts:" Defendant WFLSD entered into a written contract with plaintiff Johnson from September 2005 through September 2008; In December of 2008 a second contract was executed, extending the length of the chief’s term through September 2011; Each contract provided for three months severance pay in the event WFLSD terminated Johnson’s employment without cause.
In early 2009, the WFLSD Board of Commissioners hired Linda Bergam of Newcastle Consulting to conduct an evaluation of Johnson’s work from September 2007 through September 2008.
According to Johnson, no such prior evaluation had occurred nor had a similar evaluation ever been conducted of a district chief in the past. During her evaluation, Bergam spoke to Johnson once, while at lunch. Court documents allege Bergam obtained information from Olson and Ransom in order to complete her report.
In providing information to Bergam, the plaintiff contends the defendants provided "incomplete, self-serving and inaccurate information to her for the purpose of manipulating preparation of her report."
Further, Johnson claims he was never provided with a copy of the report until the day he was terminated, was promised an opportunity to review the report and discuss how to implement its recommendations but was deprived any such opportunity.
According to court documents, Johnson is seeking an award of all back pay, benefits, pension and retirement monies denied as a result of his wrongful termination, together with retroactive reinstatement of all benefit plans; an award of front pay from the date of the trial through the conclusion of the term of the wrongfully terminated contract (September 2011); an award of all attorney’s fees and costs incurred throughout his efforts to obtain unpaid wages; and the principal sum of not less than $36,958.08 in severance pay not including interest.
Contacted last week in Idaho, Johnson warned that his response would be limited.
"I had a contract and they didn’t honor it," he said. "It was wrong and that’s why I filed a lawsuit."
He added he hired Keane as counsel "because he’s a very good lawyer with a lot of experience and handles a lot of cases like this."
Ransom, also contacted last week, had even less to say on record. "I have to refer you to counsel because I really can’t answer your questions," he said. "That’s just the drill, and I hope you understand my position."
The defendants are represented by Summit Law Group of Seattle.
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