Law enforcement union suing county

By PAT MUIR

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Two months after an arbitrator said a fired Yakima County sheriff's deputy is entitled to reinstatement and back pay, the deputy's union is suing the county for not following that ruling.

The Yakima County Law Enforcement Officers Guild filed suit Monday in Yakima County Superior Court, seeking restitution for former deputy Jan Bartleson over her 2003 firing. In December, labor arbitrator James Lund-berg ruled in Bartleson's favor, saying the sheriff's office didn't follow proper procedure when it labeled her "unfit for duty" for psychological reasons.

The county has not followed Lundberg's orders, and the suit seeks to compel it to do so, said Eric Wolfe, a sheriff's deputy and president of the union. Aside from that, the lawsuit asks the court to double the damages awarded by the arbitrator and to pay for the union's legal fees.

"The decision to continue fighting it is not a responsible one," he said, adding that an ongoing legal battle will just cost the county more money.

But the county is still disputing the legality of the arbitrator's orders, said Paul McIlrath, a prosecuting attorney in the county's civil division. Last month the county, by way of contracted attorney Kirk Ehlis, filed a petition to Superior Court for review of the decision. In addition to questioning the arbitrator's methods and his authority in the case, the filing asserts that his order to give Bartleson her job back "requires Yakima County to reinstate as a deputy sheriff an individual that has been determined by a well-
qualified medical examiner to be unfit for duty."

In essence, that's the county's main position -- that Bartleson shouldn't be part of the department.

"(Her reinstatement) would allow a circumstance to move forward that ultimately would put the public at risk," McIlrath said.

Sheriff Ken Irwin was out sick Monday and unavailable for comment, according to his secretary.

The case involves events dating back to 2001 when Bartleson, then a seven-year veteran of the department with positive performance evaluations, crashed a car while on duty. That incident, according to the arbitrator's decision, "marks the start of a rapid deterioration of the relationship between Ms. Bartleson and the Yakima County Sheriff." She was away from work often following the crash and had other "performance issues" raised by Irwin, the decision said.

In 2002, Bartleson filed a complaint to the Washington State Human Rights Commission over her treatment and in it mentioned that she had attention deficit disorder, a statement that spurred Irwin to ask her to undergo a psychological examination. The doctor treating Bartleson reported that, with medication, the condition needn't affect her ability to work.

Around the same time, Bartleson's daughter was accused of misconduct "of a very serious nature" in the Naches Valley School District. Other parents complained about Bartleson's involvement in the aftermath of that incident, and that led Irwin to order another psychiatric evaluation. This one suggested that she was unfit for duty.

The arbitrator, given all that friction, allowed in his decision that the county could sever ties with Bartleson.

But if it chooses to do so, it would have to provide not only back pay but "future pay for the loss of career."

Pat Muir can be reached at 577-7693, or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.