PORT ANGELES — Four years after she was fired, former city Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski will have her day in court.
Jury selection in her wrongful-termination civil trial, presided over by Judge Erik Rohrer, begins at 9 a.m. this morning in Clallam County Superior Court.
Eighty potential jurors have been called, and opening arguments are expected to begin at 1:30 this afternoon, Superior Court Administrator Lindy Clevenger said Monday.
Ziomkowski, represented by Port Angeles lawyer Karen Unger, is asking for unspecified damages for age and sex discrimination, wrongful discharge and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Then-City Manager Kent Myers fired Ziomkowski March 15, 2012, for cashing out more vacation hours than the 80 allowed annually under a city policy that permitted them to be transferred into employee retirement accounts.
Ziomkowski, at the time 59, said in her May 14, 2013 lawsuit that before she was fired, she suffered through a hostile work environment marked by age and sex discrimination.
She said those responsible included Myers, City Public Works and Utilities Director Glenn Cutler, Human Resources Director Bob Coons, and Police Chief Terry Gallagher, all of whom have since left city employment.
But she says while other department heads violated the cash-out rules, only she suffered the consequences of violating a policy that the state auditor said was inconsistently applied by the city in a manner “not clearly supported by its policies.”
Ziomkowski’s claims have been challenged by Seattle lawyer Shannon Ragonesi, representing the city under its liability coverage with the Washington Cities Insurance Authority.
“The injuries and damages claimed by [Ziomkowski] were proximately caused or contributed to by the fault of the plaintiff,” Ragonesi said in her answer to the lawsuit.
Ziomkowski, at at-will employee, has since repaid $28,862 in leave that she said she accrued.
“Only the plaintiff was expected to return funds she had earned,” Unger said in court documents.
Unger defended what her client did as being “permitted by city policy and practiced by all others in a similar position of authority,” she said.
“All of these other individuals were male.”
She also alleges that Ziomkowski was “intentionally excluded from decision-making meetings,” was “ridiculed, intimidated or insulted” by department heads, and was unfairly targeted by a State Patrol investigation requested by city officials.
That investigation did not result in criminal charges against any employees.
It was initiated after the state Auditor’s Office had already determined no intentional wrongdoing or misappropriation was committed by any city employees.
“Any irregularities or inconsistencies appear to be the result of interpretations that varied over time or gaps in city policies,” according to the Auditor’s Office report.
The report concluded that the city paid out a total of $37,595 in cash-outs — most of which was to Ziomkowski — that exceeded what was allowed under city policy, according to court records.
The city ordered the State Patrol investigation despite agreeing with the findings of the Auditor’s Office — conduct Ziomkowski said showed a pattern of discrimination against her.
“When considered in totality, a rational trier of fact could reasonably find that the WSP referral was part and parcel to a pattern of discrimination over the course of time,” then Superior Court Judge George L. Wood said in an Aug. 4, 2014 ruling on a motion to strike claims in the lawsuit — though adding that the law relative to the case “is not crystal clear.”
Ragonesi said Ziomkowski knowingly cashed out of 551 hours of leave — dramatically increasing withdrawals in 2009-2011 — that not only exceeded city policy but was not comparable, for example, to Gallagher asking for 60 hours of cash-out that he sought on Dec. 22, 2006, a week before he was eligible to do so.
Ziomkowski’s actions were “based on her incorrect assumption there was a policy somewhere that allowed this,” Ragonesi said.
“She failed to make sure there was a City policy that allowed her to cash out an unlimited number of leave hours into her retirement funds.”
Ragonesi said Ziomkowski alleged age and sex discrimination after her termination, Ragonesi said.
“In all of her written responses to Mr. Myers regarding the leave cash-out issue, Plaintiff never once complained of discrimination,” Ragonesi said.
The discrimination included Myers using the term “blondie,” telling her or other employees they looked nice or that he liked their outfits, and that he would come to close to her or hug her, Ragonesi said, referring to court records.
Ziomkowski said Gallagher told her to “cool off” while they were discussing a telecommunications utility fund, and that Coons called a former City Clerk a “glorified secretary” and said a female city customer service clerk had become “hysterical” over attributing an asthma attack to the air quality in City Hall.
“Plaintiff stated she is not alleging these comments are inappropriate, ‘like woman/man.’ but just that they were inappropriate,” Ragonesi said.
“Plaintiff did not provide any dates when these comments were made.
“They were made some time during the 24 years she worked at the City.”
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at
pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
