Seattle Times' Story on Hampson's Lawsuit

 The Seattle Times has a story this morning on Seattle School Board director Chandra Hampson's continuing lawsuit against the district. The lawsuit is over an investigation that she and former director Zachary DeWolf had demanded that then-superintendent Denise Juneau launch. (Juneau thought it odd that they wanted to have themselves investigated  but she did as they asked.)

When the investigation didn't go their way, DeWolf didn't run again (not saying that's why he didn't run but he did seem to like the job) and Hampson then filed a lawsuit.  The Court's first ruling was to dismiss the case. Hampson is now appealing. 

Hampson’s attorneys are seeking to overturn the finding that their client violated the district’s harassment, intimidation and bullying policy and say the district has not explained how events that led to the investigation meet the threshold of causing “substantial harm” to staffers under the policy. But attorneys representing SPS are arguing a thorough investigation was conducted, and that the outcome is supported by 20 witness interviews and thousands of documents. 

So far SPS has spent $36,238.53 defending the case against Hampson, according to public records. District officials said that number will increase because the case is ongoing. 

And fyi on that HIB (harassment, intimidation and bullying) policy for adults:

Last month, the school board voted to repeal the harassment, intimidation and bullying policy for adults (a student policy still exists) and replace it with civility procedures, citing the extraneous resources it took to go through complaints that often didn’t meet the threshold of the policy and prevented more serious complaints from being addressed. Hampson recused herself from voting.

The Times' piece states that just replacing the policy doesn't change the Court's decision. 

There are a couple of quite volatile statements in the article from Hampson's attorney, Phil Talmadge. 

“There’s been an issue on whether the staff of Seattle Public Schools runs the district or if the superintendent and board do,” said Hampson’s attorney, Philip Talmadge, a former Washington State Supreme Court justice. “This case highlights that particular problem and ultimately can bring affirmation to the board and the superintendent they hire.”

I can say this is the first time I have heard this argument for this case. Hampson thinks both the superintendent and the Board were somehow at odds with staff over governance at that time? I'm not sure that the members of the Board at that time OR Juneau would agree with that. At all.

Board members are elected to advise and approve policies, Talmadge said. If a superintendent or board member directed staff to get something done by a certain time and the employee refused to and claimed that was bullying, “I mean that’s just unworkable,” said Talmadge, who served as a state senator for 16 years. “As a former elected official, it’s bloody nonsense.”

"Bloody?" That's a British term; I guess I was not aware that Talmadge was British. And if he doesn't know the difference between the work of a state legislator and a school board member, that's quite surprising. 

For my part, I was glad to write several lengthy comments, fleshing out the story that the Times has tried to cover up or ignore for so long. But the Times did not print one comment which included a link to the actual investigative report nor the link to the staffers' letter of complaint to the Board that kicked this whole mess off. 

I would love to hear why the Times' made that decision because the link to the report is at a site where you can upload stories, articles, etc. And the ONLY reason I did that is because the district has NEVER provided their own link. Maybe the Times might ask them for it. As for the letter of complaint, I got that via a story at Post Alley. Again, if the Times wanted that letter of complaint, I'd bet the district would send a link.

Given how mute the Times has been on this story in general, I'm thinking you will never see either link at their website.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Sadly the Seattle Times did not point out the stunning hypocrisy in Hampson's argument. It is indeed true that the board, not the staff, create policy. But Hampson is the one driving the "Student Outcome Focused Governance" model reforms that are centered around the board handing power to the staff, including policymaking power.

Hampson is quite the piece of work. A raging narcissist and, as the report makes clear, a racist who harassed, intimidated, and bullied two Black women administrators.

Also, SPS eliminating the HIB policy in response is perhaps even more chilling than Hampson's own actions.

Stunned
8/13/22, 4:13 PM
Anonymous said…
I mean I guess the story is better than nothing, but I wish ST would be a little more rigorous here. It’s almost like the district reflects poorly on the city or something.

Gift Horse
8/14/22, 8:17 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Gift Horse, you might have missed my post on what I think is happening with the Times and KUOW and why they are ignoring/dragging their feet on these stories.

I think that Seattle is struggling with its image. A lot.

I think that Seattle has many parallels in its troubles with San Francisco and the City of Seattle does not want those comparisons to be made, especially not in news stories.

The district is a big deal if you want to attract and keep highly educated workers.

So, at all costs, avoid doing stories that would drag either the City's or the district's image down.

That's my take and I thought it interesting that your comment was along that line.
8/14/22, 9:40 PM
northwesterner said…
Phil Talmadge???

He's still working?
8/19/22, 9:59 PM
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