Ex-Deputy Settles Final Lawsuit With Chelan County For $1.5 Million

The Chelan County Sheriff's Office has settled a lawsuit with one of its former deputies for $1.5 million.

The suit was the last of several actions brought over the past eleven years by Jennifer Tyler, who had previously won a lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office for unfair employment practices.

Sheriff Mike Morrison says he's grateful to see the suit come to an end.

"The litigation has been going on for over a decade, so we really wanted to bring some closure to the (Chelan) County, to the Sheriff's Office, and to Ms. Tyler and her family. This has been stressful for all of the parties involved and just the amount of resources and time that have been consumed with this needs to be reallocated back to the agency and more towards serving the community."

Tyler was fired by both of Morrison's predecessors as sheriff, including Mike Harum in 2010, and Brian Burnett in 2019.

In 2018, a Douglas County jury awarded Tyler $506,500 in damages and $449,000 in legal fees after it concluded she had been the victim of retaliation in the workplace.

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The following year, Chelan County paid Tyler $455,000 to settle a separate employment claim which stemmed from her suspension in 2018 by Burnett.

The latest settlement concludes a federal lawsuit brought by Tyler in 2019 which accused Burnett of professional misconduct and alleged discrimination and civil rights violations by his department.

Morrison says the settlement will allow the Sheriff's Office to concentrate more on the present and less about the past.

"This is an issue that has continuously been associated with the Sheriff's Office. We hope with this closure that we can transition away from that and get back to focusing on the great work that the men and women of this agency do for the communities we serve. I think it's time we get back to the actual work the Sheriff's Office does and not the issues associated with its past."

The suit was awaiting a trial in U.S. District Court in Spokane when the notice of settlement was filed last Wednesday (May 15).

The money will be paid from the Counties Risk Pool Insurance.