A FORMER DETECTIVE in the Woodland Police Department has filed a lawsuit against the city for wrongful termination. In his suit, David Plaza makes claims of wrongdoing against a sergeant in the police department and the former employee is also critical of Mayor Grover Laseke.
A former police officer with the Woodland Police Department has filed a lawsuit in Clark County Superior Court claiming he was wrongfully terminated by the city.
David Plaza, an officer and detective with the Woodland Police Department since 2008, was terminated by the city of Woodland on March 27. In his lawsuit, filed April 7 in Clark County Superior Court, Plaza alleged discrimination and wrongful termination as a consequence of his previously reporting allegations against current Woodland Sgt. Brad Gillaspie.
“Basically, the suit is a continuation of the tort claim I filed a year ago, in reference to retaliation for reporting activities of Sgt. Gillaspie,’’ Plaza told The Reflector.
Plaza filed the tort claim in June 2014 while on an eight-month administrative leave from the Woodland Police Department. At the time, his Vancouver-based attorney Greg Ferguson said the tort signals the intention to file suit.
Woodland Mayor Grover Laseke said Plaza was terminated as a result of a recent incident during which he was not truthful.
“He lied,’’ Laseke told The Reflector. “I’m not at liberty to talk about the specifics, but it was for lying. It was a serious incident and after being reviewed by our legal counsel, who specializes in these things, the decision was made to terminate.’’
Laseke said he ultimately left the decision up to current Woodland Police Chief Philip Crochet, who joined the department in December 2014.
“Typically, it is the mayor’s responsibility,’’ Laseke said. “I’m the personnel officer for the city. I delegated the responsibility for that to Chief Crochet. He is fairly new and he doesn’t have all the baggage of what went on during the past year. I wanted him to make a good decision without influence from somebody who has claimed to be corrupt and all that stuff.
“It wasn’t lying about something minor,’’ Laseke said of the alleged incident involving Plaza. “It was corroborated extensively. I have full confidence in Chief Crochet’s opinion and his decision about this.’’
Plaza’s suit alleges that Laseke and those under his supervision retaliated against him and wrongfully terminated his employment because he reported illegal activity in Woodland’s Police Department.
The lawsuit, filed Ferguson and attorney Jack Green, makes reference to numerous internal department records obtained in a separate lawsuit filed under the State’s Public Records Act. Those records allegedly describe in detail a pattern of misconduct by Gillaspie that includes illegal confiscation and search of cell phones of under-age female suspects (between 14 and 16 years old) to locate and view explicit images “for his personal sexual gratification.”
The suit also claims that Gillaspie “made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature to female participants and job candidates in the Woodland Police Department ride-along program.” Gillaspie has been charged with any crimes.
Plaza contends that his difficulties began when he reported Gillaspie’s conduct to the mayor in 2013. Following his report, Plaza claims that the mayor and Gillaspie – who was interim police chief at the time – fabricated allegations of misconduct centering upon Plaza’s receipt of a digital camera received at a law enforcement training session.
Plaza’s attorneys assert that while Plaza was accused of theft by Gillaspie, he was later exonerated when investigators from the Washington State Patrol (WSP) concluded that there was “no evidence that Det. Plaza used or possessed (the) camera in a manner consistent with theft.”
Despite that finding, the lawsuit asserts that Mayor Laseke re-opened an internal investigation and “manufactured adverse findings against (Plaza) that were the opposite of those reached by the WSP.”
Laseke confirmed that upon the completion of that investigation, Plaza received a letter of discipline upon his reinstatement with the department.
“The WSP report was a criminal investigation,’’ Laseke said. “Personnel matters have a different standard. Just because he wasn’t charged with a crime doesn’t mean a person didn’t do something wrong. He received letters of discipline when he came back to work after the eight-month layoff.’’
Removed from detective role
Plaza said that soon after Crochet assumed the position of Woodland’s police chief, he was told his position as detective would be re-opened.
“Immediately after assuming his duties as chief, he removed me from the detective’s position and put me back on patrol under the supervision of Sgt. Gillaspie,’’ Plaza said.
Plaza said prior to last year, there were no claims against him of poor performance on the job. Laseke, who has been mayor since 2012, said he is also not aware of past issues with Plaza’s job performance prior to last year.
Plaza said his attempts to establish an interactive relationship with Crochet have been unsuccessful. He also claims that he has been ostracized by the majority of the employees of the Woodland Police Department.
“They claimed I wasn’t trying to reintegrate myself back into the department the way that I should have,’’ Plaza said. “Compared to how I was treated before I was put on administrative leave and how I was treated after I returned, it was night and day.
“One of two (staff members) were still friendly to me but for the most part no one wanted anything to do with me,’’ Plaza said.
Plaza said that part of the staff still considered him a “thief’’ because of the camera incident, even though the WSP investigation didn’t result in any charges. He also said other staff members were afraid of retaliation by Gillaspie if they were caught being friendly toward him.
“Gillaspie is well known for his retaliatory practices,’’ Plaza said. “If you cross his path, he’s going to come after you. It’s my belief that a lot of people were doing that for their own survival. If they appeared to be too much in my corner, they would probably be next.’’
Public Works problems
Plaza’s lawsuit comes on the heels of complaints filed by Woodland Public Works Department employee with the Department of Labor and Industries (L & I) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In his complaints, Derrek Amburgey claims that he was discriminated against for reporting violations of workplace health and safety at Woodland’s wastewater treatment facility.
Amburgey claims his work hours and rate of pay were also reduced as a result of his actions. Laseke confirmed that Amburgey had been disciplined by the city on a number of occasions. Amburgey’s claims are currently being investigated both by L & I and OSHA. In addition, Laseke has initiated an investigation with the city’s insurance provider, Moses Lake-based Canfield and Associates.
In October, three months after Amburgey said he complained to the Department of Ecology (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency, irregularities were found during an inspection of the plant by DOE officials. In February, Laseke announced that Veolia Services had been selected to conduct an audit of the Waste Water Treatment Plant. The mayor said the audit was expected to take four months.
Common thread for problems
Plaza believes the city of Woodland has a problem and that the common thread between his situation and Amburgey’s is Laseke.
“The common thread is Grover,’’ Plaza said. “He’s the person all these people ultimately report to. He is required by law to make sure any violations are fairly and justly investigated and taken care of. He has chosen not to do that. There is no way he could not have known what is going on in both departments. It’s a widespread issue and at the head of each one of these things is Grover.’’
Laseke disagreed with Plaza’s assessment of the city of Woodland’s culture.
“I’m not just a 35,000-foot manager of the city,’’ Laseke said. “I stop and talk to our employees all the time. I know all the employees and I don’t believe there is a problem in the police department or any other department in the city that is different than anyplace else.
“We want to do the right thing,’’ Laseke said. “We want the truth to prevail and want to treat everybody with dignity and respect.’’
Plaza’s lawsuit does not request any specific amount of money, however in his tort claim notice filed with the City in 2014, Plaza claimed damages in excess of $2 million.
