<p>MATTAWA -- A tentative settlement has been reached in a long-running civil rights lawsuit brought by Latino-owned day-care centers in Mattawa against the state Department of Social and Health Services over unauthorized searches and seizures of property. </p><p>If approved by a federal judge, the plaintiffs will receive $45,000 each and the state will revise its manual on handling home child-care inspections. Columbia Legal Services, which represents the day-care owners, would receive $350,000 in legal fees. </p><p>Columbia Legal Services in Wenatchee in 2005 won class-action status on behalf of about 4,000 day-care providers in Washington and a subclass status for all non-English speaking day-care providers in the state. They sought systemic changes within the state Department of Social and Health Services and unspecified monetary compensation for nine Mattawa day-care providers. </p><p>In the lawsuit, day-care owners alleged that the &quot;white mayor of Mattawa,&quot; Judy Esser, and members of the &quot;all-white Mattawa Police Department&quot; urged a state investigation into day-care providers working in the community of 3,000, which in 2001 was about 95 percent Hispanic. </p><p>The resulting investigation included inappropriate searches and confiscations, unnecessary immigration inquiries, intimidation, and legal documents that were never translated into Spanish -- the primary language of many of the providers, the suit stated. </p><p><em>-- Leah Beth Ward</em></p> MATTAWA -- A tentative settlement has been reached in a long-running civil rights lawsuit brought by Latino-owned day-care centers in Mattawa against the state Department of Social and Health Services over unauthorized searches and seizures of property. I City Desk, LOCAL 2008-05-29T17:19:13Z 2008-05-29T18:21:00Z false 2008-05-30T18:27:30Z Tentative settlement reached in Mattawa day-care lawsuit 4497 tentative-settlement-reached-in-mattawa-day-care-lawsuit Web Story Yakima Herald-Republic Yakima Herald-Republic 0 2008-05-29T07:00:00Z 6207785 $n$ Tentative settlement reached in Mattawa day-care lawsuit published Web Daily 2009-03-20T02:26:36Z 1