Lands commish was focus of sex harassment complaint

By ALLEN SCHAUFFLER / KING 5 News

SEATTLE – It's only July, but we've already seen the race for Governor get publicly nasty with attack ads from both sides.

Now, another statewide race is heating up with accusations of sexual harassment at the Department of Natural Resources involving current Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland, who is up for re-election.

"I've dealt with negative campaigns before, but this is by far the lowest blow I've ever seen," said Sutherland.

It all stems from an incident in 2005, the details of which were first reported in a partisan liberal blog.

According to internal DNR documents, a new employee complains that during an informal breakfast meeting, Sutherland takes her by the shoulder and "feels it then twists me around so that my back is facing him and he holds me with one hand and feels my back (open palmed) from my neck down to my waist, shoulders, etc."

She goes on the claim Sutherland means he "could have felt up front or could have felt the other side."

Sutherland disputes that part of the report and others remember it differently.

"I don't believe I said that. That's out of my character," said Sutherland.

The commissioner acknowledges the incident happened, but says his intentions were misunderstood.

"I was being very joking, very humorous, asking to see where the arrows were in her back and saying 'you gotta be strong enough to deal with some of these folks,'" said Sutherland.

Sutherland, who has been in public service for more than two decades at the city, county and state level, says the incident has changed the way he deals with employees and people he doesn't know.

"I'm a very informal person. I'm a hugger. My whole family's huggers," said Sutherland.

The man trying to win Sutherland's job, Peter Goldmark, has a different take.

"Of course he's going to call it a cheap shot, but it wasn't something that was manufactured or created by anybody else but Mr Sutherland," said Goldmark. He calls the incident a completely appropriate campaign issue that should be aired for voters.

"I think they have every right and deserve to know how their agency leaders are treating the employees," said Goldmark.

The investigation was an internal investigation at the Department of Natural Resources. No other agency ever looked into it. There has never been any legal action taken as a result of the incident.

The employee has not been identified and has not spoken publicly about what happened. She left the agency after less than a month on the payroll.

Seattle to pay $100,000 excessive force settlement

By BERNARD CHOI / KING 5 News

SEATTLE - The City of Seattle will pay more than $100,000 to settle a complaint of excessive police force.

A young woman sued the city, saying an officer kicked her legs out from under her during an arrest and sent her face-first to the ground.

Before Brittany Beaulieu's first run in with the law, she was working in marketing and excited about the next phase of her life.

Her encounter with Seattle Police left her face swollen, her cheekbone broken in three places.

"She was seriously injured, she was emotionally injured," said Allen Ressler, Beaulieu's attorney.

Ressler says the 30-year-old was with friends on Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood on April 21, 2006. They had just left a bar when Beaulieu saw one of her friends get pulled over for DUI. Trying to help, she walked up to her friend and offered legal advice.

An officer warned her to back away. When she didn't, Ressler said she was forced to the ground.

"All of a sudden for reasons she can't fathom, she's forcefully thrown to the ground," said Ressler.

The police officer had used a common maneuver called a leg sweep to subdue Beaulieu, basically grabbing her arms while trying to sweep her legs from underneath her. Somehow, the officer lost control of Beaulieu and she slammed face first into the cement.

An initial internal investigation concluded the officer had used unnecessary force and recommended he be disciplined. But in a follow-up, the head of the Office of Professional Accountability, which investigates police misconduct, exonerated the officer, suggesting instead he get more training.

This case follows previous complaints of excessive police force where the officer was not punished, like the 2005 arrest of Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes, a littering case that got out of control. In November, 2007 the city of Seattle settled a lawsuit brought on by Alley-Barnes for $185,000 against the police for use of excessive force.

In fact, last year, a citizen review board noted 23 cases where an officer was recommended for discipline, but Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske reversed the decision.

"Something's broken," said Ressler.

Ressler says while the latest settlement brings a close to Brittany Beaulieu's case, the larger issue remains.

"The police should not police the police," said Ressler. "You need someone to take a critical look at what happened…The process is skewed now towards exonerating the officer."

The Seattle Police Department, the city attorney's office and one Seattle City Council member all declined to comment for this story.

Earlier this year, the Seattle Police Department adopted 29 recommendations from the mayor's office aimed at more openness and police oversight.