Suit Accuses Sheriff's Dept. Of Racial, Gender Discrimination

TACOMA, WA — Three Pierce County Sheriff's Department employees have filed a lawsuit against the county alleging that they suffered discrimination based on their race and gender for many years.

The three plaintiffs, Lt. Charla James-Hutchison, Sgt. Dione Alexander and Sgt. Sabrina Braswell-Bouyer, are the highest-ranking Black women in the sheriff's department's history, the News Tribune reported.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Pierce County Superior Court. It claims the three worked for the sheriff's department for a combined 85 years, during which time the "top echelons" of the department "both participated in and ignored racial harassment and discrimination, as well as gender-based discrimination, and allowed the culture of animosity towards African Americans and women to grow and fester."

The complaint details several alleged incidents of racism and racial discrimination, including being subjected to racial slurs, being told to "go back to where they came from" if they don't like America, being told that Black protestors “should be shot or run over” and that COVID-19 vaccines should be "tested" on Black people before whites, among other incidents.

"For many years, as Plaintiffs suffered silently through the severe and pervasive racial hostility in the workplace, Defendant Pierce County leadership condoned the racial and gender-based hostilities and failed to protect them," the lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiffs claim that the three employees tried to speak out about the racism they endured from their colleagues, but that department higher-ups turned a blind eye to their concerns.

"Pierce County employees began to silence and retaliate against Plaintiffs as a direct result of their voiced complaints," the complaint reads. "Following these women speaking out in opposition to these unlawful practices, they were each individually retaliated against."

Lt. James-Hutchison also claims that she was told her hiring was to "fill a quota", with the implication that she only received her job as a result of her race and gender. In 2006, she was told that she was likely to receive a promotion, but only because the county wanted to promote someone of color, the complaint says.

A representative for Pierce County told The News Tribune the county could not comment on pending litigation.

The complaint does not specify the exact monetary total the three employees are seeking, but asks the county to pay damages for emotional distress, personal injury, psychological distress, wage loss, humiliation, damage to their personal reputations, and loss of consortium, plus attorney fees and costs, interest on the judgement, and any other relief the court deems proper.