FILED 0 AUG PM : KING COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT CLERK E-FILED CASE NUMBER: 0--00- SEA 0 THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF KING WASHINGTON STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION, a labor organization, on behalf of its members employed by King County Department of Public Health, v. Plaintiff, KING COUNTY, and the DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, a subdivision of KING COUNTY, Defendants. No. COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF UNDER RCW..0 (PUBLIC RECORDS ACT) & CHAPTER 0, LAWS OF 0 COMES NOW Plaintiff Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), on behalf of its members employed by King County, to request that the Court issue an order enjoining King County and the Department of Public Health from disclosing personal information of Jail Health Services employees requested by inmates at the King County Correctional Facility. Courthouse News Service COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF - WEST MERCER STREET SUITE 00 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -
0 I. PARTIES. Plaintiff Washington State Nurses Association ( WSNA or Association ), is a labor organization, as defined by the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act, RCW. et seq., with its primary office located in King County. WSNA represents approximately,000 nurses throughout the state. It has two collective bargaining agreements with King County s Department of Public Health ( Department ) currently in effect. WSNA represents approximately employees in the Department.. Defendant King County is an employer under the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act, RCW..00. It employs thousands of individuals including Department of Public Health employees represented by WSNA who work at the County s correctional facilities. The County is signatory to two collective bargaining agreements with WSNA. II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE. The Superior Court of King County has jurisdiction in this matter, and venue in King County is appropriate, pursuant to RCW..0, and Chapter 0, Laws of 0, Section ()(b). III. STATEMENT OF FACTS. WSNA represents in aggregate approximately Department employees covered by collective bargaining agreements (CBA) with King County. Approximately 0 of those nurses provide health services to inmates at the County s detention facilities through COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF - WEST MERCER STREET SUITE 00 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -
the Jail Health Services Program, administered by the Department. nurses work full time at a jail. Jail Health Services. CBAs negotiated by the County are publicly available on the County s website, http://www.kingcounty.gov/employees/humanresources/laborcontracts.aspx.. Nurses working in the County s correctional facilities constantly work in close proximity to inmates, many of whom are under distress, suffer mental illnesses, and/or are prone to violence. Nurses generally take precautions to safeguard their identities such as maintaining an unlisted phone number. In addition to harassment by inmates at the jail, 0 some nurses have experienced threats, flirtations, and unwanted phone calls at home from inmates.. Knowledge of an employee s first and last name would enable an inmate to use free internet resources to uncover an abundance of personal and private information about the employee, including home address and phone number.. Since approximately, nurses have concealed their surnames on their identification badges.. The Department of Public Health received information requests from two King County Correctional Facility (KCCF) inmates. The requests seek a list of names, job titles and job duties of all medical personnel working for Jail Health Services at the KCCF and the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.. The County sought clarification regarding the public disclosure request and received a clarifying letter from one of the inmates on July, 0. COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF - WEST MERCER STREET SUITE 00 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -
. On July, Jail Health Services manager Bette Pine emailed bargaining unit employees about these inmate public disclosure requests. Ms. Pine s email also announced 0 the County s intention to disclose the requested information, unless restrained from doing so by court order before August 0, 0, :00 PM.. WSNA s General Counsel, Tim Sears, via letter dated July to the Department, requested copies of the inmate public disclosure requests and requested an extension. The Department postponed its date for planned disclosure until August and provided copies of the inmate public disclosure requests to Mr. Sears. WSNA received the Department s letter on August..0 In addition to copies of the inmates requests, the Department provided a copy of the County s public disclosure manual. The manual does not reflect Chapter 0, Laws of 0 (SSB 0), which amended RCW. and established criteria for enjoining the disclosure of nonexempt public records when requested by persons serving criminal sentences.. The inmates who submitted the public disclosure requests are Joel Zellmer and Myron Wynn.. Inmate Joel Martin Zellmer is in custody on charges of Murder in the First Degree for the 0 death of year-old Ashley McClellan, his step-daughter at the time. The Certification for Determination of Probable Cause, Case No. 0--00--SEA, details a pattern of serious and bizarre injuries and near misses suffered by very young children left in Mr. Zellmer s care dating back to 0. It was filed June, 0. COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF - WEST MERCER STREET SUITE 00 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -
0. According to the Second Amended Information (Feb., 0), inmate Zellmer faces multiple counts of Theft in the First Degree, including defrauding Labor & Industries for nearly $0,000, mortgage fraud ($0,000) and insurance fraud ($,).. Police found numerous firearms in Zellmer s home, including a stolen rifle. When Zellmer was arrested in 0 he was carrying a loaded. handgun and wearing a bulletproof vest.. According to the Information in Case No. 0--00- SEA, inmate Myron Clark Wynn (AKA Myron C. Holdredge, Jr.; AKA Michael C. Wynn) is charged with Murder in the First Degree for the death of a sixty-six year old Burien man (Robert Wykel) committed during the course of robbery.. The issue of Department employees disclosing their surnames to inmates at King County detention centers has been previously addressed by the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), the state s labor relations agency that administers, inter alia, the collective bargaining statute for King County employees, and Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals. In WSNA v. King County, Decision 0-A (PECB,), affirmed King County v. PERC et al, Wn. App., P.d 0 (), PERC ruled that the County s decision to require Department nurses working in Jail Health Services to disclose their surnames on their name badges was a mandatory subject of bargaining. The Court of Appeals affirmed and found that the safety concerns of the nurses were legitimate and outweighed the County s interest in unilaterally designating the method used to identify employees. Wn. App. at. COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF - WEST MERCER STREET SUITE 00 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -
0. In light of the 0 inmate amendment to the PRA, and the Court of Appeals ruling, WSNA, through counsel, asked the Department to redact Jail Health Services employees surnames when responding to the inmates disclosure requests.. WSNA also requested that the Department bargain over this issue.. On August, the Department rejected that requested accommodation and reiterated its intention to disclose employee surnames on August unless directed otherwise by a court order.. WSNA and the Department have not negotiated over the issue of disclosing employee surnames to inmates.. The imminent release of the requested records, including employees surnames, will irreparably and permanently harm employees security, safety and right to privacy. Disclosure of employee surnames places both the employee and their family members at risk. Employees were hired with the understanding and expectation that the Department would safeguard their identity from disclosure to inmates.. The imminent release of the requested records will expose employees to unnecessary and heightened risk of harassment, stalking, physical harm, identity theft, fraud, and invasion of privacy. Consequently, it will cause disruption to the order, operation and security of the corrections facilities. IV. CLAIMS. The Plaintiff herein re-alleges each and every fact set forth above. COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF - WEST MERCER STREET SUITE 00 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -
0. Plaintiff alleges that the County must be enjoined from disclosing the requested records under the Public Records Act, RCW. as amended by the Chapter 0, Laws of 0 (Substitute Senate Bill 0) as such disclosure would threaten the safety or security of Department employees or their families.. The disclosure of employees surnames to inmates constitutes a mandatory subject of bargaining under the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act. Therefore, unilateral release of the requested records by the Defendant would violate RCW..0.. Because the County is prohibited under another statute - the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act - from unilaterally disclosing the nurses surnames, the requested records are exempt under RCW..00().. Disclosure of the requested records would breach the employer s duty to maintain a safe working environment. V. REQUESTED RELIEF WHEREFORE Plaintiff hereby prays for the following relief:. That this Court issue an order, pursuant to Chapter 0, Laws of 0 and RCW..0, permanently enjoining the County from releasing the requested records described herein;. That this Court issue an order () declaring that the unilateral release of the requested records constitutes an unfair labor practice in violation of RCW..0(), and () enjoining the County, on that basis, from unilaterally releasing the requested records;. Attorneys fees and costs; and COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF - WEST MERCER STREET SUITE 00 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -
. Any and all such further relief as the Court may deem equitable and just. Respectfully submitted this th day of August 0. 0 s/robert H. Lavitt Washington State Bar No. IGLITZIN & LAVITT, LLP West Mercer Street, Suite 00 Seattle, WA Lavitt@workerlaw.com Attorneys for Plaintiff COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF - WEST MERCER STREET SUITE 00 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -