By Warren Cornwall
Herald Writer
The former second-in-command at the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office has sued the department, claiming Sheriff Rick Bart berated him, then unfairly demoted him after he took a leave from work to be treated for depression.
Randy Nichols, who served as undersheriff from 1995 to 2000, alleged in court filings that the department discriminated against him because of his depression and caused emotional distress by failing to accommodate his illness.
It also claims Nichols was subjected to hostile treatment by Bart after telling the department’s fiscal unit that some spending authorized by Bart was "merely recreational."
The suit by Nichols and his wife, Beverly, filed in King County Superior Court doesn’t specify a dollar amount in damages. But an earlier claim filed with the county sought $10 million.
Rick Bart |
Nichols could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But one of his attorneys said the case was a "fairly substantial damage claim" that they had sought to resolve with the county without going to court.
"We gave them an opportunity to do this without having to wash their dirty laundry in public," said one of his attorneys, Jody Gross.
Tom Fitzpatrick, assistant chief of the civil division in the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office, said the county rejected the earlier claim. He had no further comments.
Bart could not be reached for comment. However, an aide said Bart had said his response to media questions about the lawsuit was, "I am extremely disappointed."
Department spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen would say only, "It’s inappropriate for us to comment on any potential litigation."
Court and claim documents detail a relationship between Bart and Nichols that allegedly grew increasingly bitter in late 2000, as Nichols took a leave for depression and then sought to return.
In the court claim, Nichols alleges tensions between the two began after Bart demanded that Nichols work on Bart’s 1999 re-election campaign. The suit claims that Randy and Beverly Nichols tried to distance themselves from any future political campaigns after that election and that Bart became increasingly hostile toward the undersheriff.
Those tensions spilled out in the weeks after Nichols took a leave from his job in mid-October, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims that when Nichols tried to return to work 13 days later, Bart berated him and refused to accept a return to work slip from Nichols’ physician. Later, it claims, Bart promised Nichols he could have the undersheriff’s job back when he returned.
In early 2001, after Nichols’ doctor wrote that Nichols might be able to resume his duties sometime later in the year, Bart demoted him to captain, according to the lawsuit.
"As a result of this demotion, Randy has sustained yet another exacerbation of his psychiatric condition," the suit states.
The suit has no details about the allegations of spending problems in the department. Nichols’ attorneys declined to elaborate on that claim.
You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to cornwall@heraldnet.com.
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