Current Cases

William Berry v. Merrick Garland, 1:24-cv-00052-JFR-SCY (D. New Mexico)

William Berry is a United States Marine Corps combat veteran who served two tours in war-torn Afghanistan. After faithfully serving his country and receiving an honorable discharge from the United States Marine Corps, Mr. Berry continued to serve his country by joining the FBI. After joining the FBI, Mr. Berry experienced race discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment first at the hands of an overt racist, Bill Hall, and then at the hands of Mr. Hall’s replacement, Kalon Fancher. While Mr. Fancher lacked Mr. Hall’s overt bigotry, his discrimination was more of the insidious sort that still permeates some workplaces across our Country. Accordingly, Mr. Berry brought race discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment claims against the FBI. A copy of his lawsuit is available at: Berry v. Garland. After filing suit the FBI asked the Court to dismiss the case because Mr. Berry (in the FBI’s opinion) didn’t follow certain claims processing rules. Mr. Berry filed a response to the motion.

Stephanie Hayden v. SCRAPS, Spokane Co. Sup. Ct. 24-2-00151-32

Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services (SCRAPS), employed Stephanie Hayden. Ms. Hayden alleges that in the Spring of 2023 she opposed SCRAPs director Jesse Ferrari’s directive to euthanize two dogs as it was Ms. Hayden’s contention that directive violated local regulation and the SCRAPS’ contract with the City. SCRAPS fired her days after she made the complaint. In departing SCRAPS Ms. Hayden asked to adopt a dog named Bambi. SCRAPS refused to allow that adoption. Instead SCRAPS euthanized Bambi. Ms. Hayden further alleges that SCRAPS blacklisted her to potential employers. A copy of Ms. Hayden’s complaint is available at: Hayden v. SCRAPS

Suzanne Hawk v. Dog Sciences d/b/a Unleashed Academy & Mary Davies, Spokane Co. Sup. Ct. 23-2-00428-32

An employer cannot misclassify employees as “independent contractors” in order to avoid having to pay minimum wage and overtime.

On February 1, 2023, Suzanne Hawk, a former dog trainer (also known as a Behaviorist), filed a class action lawsuit against Dog Sciences and Mary Davies alleging that Defendants improperly designated her as an “independent contractor” so as to avoid paying minimum wages and overtime compensation. A copy of Ms. Hawk’s  class action lawsuit is available here.

On August 11, 2023, the Spokane County Superior Court granted Ms. Hawk’s motion to certify her class action lawsuit. The class that the Court certified is:

“all persons who have worked as dog trainers or Behaviorists and classified as Independent Contractors for Defendants in Washington at any time between January 31, 2020 and the date of the final disposition of this action.”

On October 5, 2023, the Court approved Ms. Hawk’s motion to amend her class action notice to include the following language: “Mary Davies, Dog Sciences, LLC, and their agents may not communicate with you about this notice or lawsuit and may not retaliate against you for not opting out of the class.”

The Court approved Class Action Notice is available at: Class Action Notice.

On July 19, 2024, the Court denied Defendants’ motion to decertify the class. The matter is pending class action settlement approval.

Sundie Woodbury v. The Housing Authority of Asotin County, Adams Co. Sup. Ct. 23-2-00156-02

Sundie Woodbury alleges that her former employer, the Housing Authority of Asotin County (HAAC), discriminated against her on account of her actual and perceived disability. A copy of Ms. Woodbury’s complaint is available at: Woodbury v. HAAC. On November 15, 2024, a jury found that HAAC wrongfully terminated Ms. Woodbury’s employment and awarded her $382,658.00.

Chris Graybill et. al. v. Walgreen, Eastern District of Washington, 2:23-cv-330-ACE

Chris Graybill and his former co-worker Nash Fahmy worked at the Walgreens store on the corner of 29th and Grand Blvd. in Spokane. On July 24, 2023, a band of criminals entered the store, assaulted Messrs. Graybill and Fahmy, and then fled the store. Disregarding their own safety, Messrs. Graybill and Fahmy briefly exited the store for the purpose of getting the license plate of the assaulters car and ensuring an elderly store customer would be protected in the event the assaulters returned. Walgreen fired both workers who allege Walgreen wrongfully fired them in violation of public policy. A copy of their lawsuit is available at: Graybill v. Walgreen. This matter has resolved.

Rolando Hernandez v. City of Othello, Washington, Eastern District of Washington, 2:23-cv-103-MKD

Mr. Hernandez alleges that the City of Othello violated his rights under USERRA, retaliated against him for reporting workplace sexual harassment, and wrongfully withheld documents under Washington’s public record act. A copy of his complaint is available here: Hernandez v. City of Othello. The City of Othello agreed to pay $350,000.00 to settle the case.

David Krzesni v. Wellpinit School District, Eastern District of Washington, 2:24-cv-40-MKD

Mr. Krzesni worked for the Wellpinit School District as a Project Director. One of his jobs was to oversee a grant from the federal Department of Education. Mr. Krzesni learned that the District planned on spending federal grant money on a trip to Hawaii. Mr. Krzesni told District managers that the money could not be spent on the Hawaii trip. When Mr. Krzesni learned that the money was, in fact, spent on the Hawaii trip he reported the spending to the Department of Education. Shortly after making his report to the federal government the District told Mr. Krzesni that it was not renewing his employment contract. A copy of his lawsuit is available here: Krzesni v. Wellpinit School District

Samantha Ward v. Benton County Fire District No. 1, Benton Co. Sup. Ct., 23-2-00465-03.

Benton County Fire District No. 1 hired Ms. Ward as its first ever female career firefighter/paramedic. Within weeks of her hiring she experienced sexual harassment at the hands of her peers and supervisors. Ms. Ward reported this harassment on numerous occasions but to no avail. It was only after Ms. Ward lawyered up (shortly after a higher ranking fire captain threw a book at her during a class) that BCFD No. 1 investigated. After the investigation ended BCFD No. 1’s retaliation escalated. First, BCFD No. 1 passed her over for promotion to Lieutenant even though she was the highest scoring career firefighter on the Lieutenant promotional examination. Second, BCFD No. 1 fired Ms. Ward within weeks of her lawsuit being amended to include federal civil rights claims. The entirety of Ms. Ward’s lawsuit is set out in her Third Amended Complaint.