A former Morton Police Department officer has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and its former mayor for his termination in 2023, alleging that he was fired for bringing up concerns related to the behavior of disgraced former Police Chief Roger Morningstar.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in June.
Former officer Gregory J. Peterson alleges that his termination was in violation of the Washington Law Against Discrimination, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his First Amendment rights and public policy.
Peterson initially filed a tort claim against the city on April 3, 2024. On April 11, 2025, he received a “right-to-sue” letter from the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with his claim of discrimination through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The lawsuit notes that Peterson began working for the Morton Police Department in April 2022. A year later, the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) began an investigation into Morningstar. The lawsuit states that, prior to working in Morton, Morningstar resigned from the Quinault Nation Police Department in 2015 after “multiple accusations of sexual harassment and innappropriate behavior.”
“The Quinault Nation Police Department was going to terminate Morningstar if he did not resign,” the lawsuit states.
Morningstar was hired by Morton as chief beginning in 2016, the same year that Dan Mortensen began his tenure as mayor of the city. Mortensen was the chief of police prior to becoming mayor.
The lawsuit notes that Mortensen supervised Morningstar and had sole authority in hiring or firing police department personnel.
“Morningstar’s tenure as police chief was rife with sexual harassment and other unethical behavior,” the lawsuit states. “Multiple women informed CJTC in April 2023 that Morningstar sexually harassed them while he was chief of police for Morton. According to the CJTC report, at least one of those women disclosed Morningstar’s sexual harassment to Defendant Mortensen, but Defendant Mortensen never followed up with her about it.”
Peterson participated in the CJTC investigation and “provided damaging information about Morningstar,” according to the lawsuit.
“Plaintiff also complained directly to Morningstar about his inappropriate behavior,” the lawsuit states. “Morningstar retaliated by intentionally misconstruing Plaintiff’s complaint as a resignation and terminated Plaintiff’s employment in May 2023.”
Morningstar ultimately resigned from his position as chief in lieu of termination in June 2023. Peterson was rehired after Morningstar’s resignation.
“In June 2023, Defendant Mortensen made comments to Plaintiff about there being a ‘mole’ in the police department,” the lawsuit states. “In August 2023, a local paper in Lewis County published records on its website from the CJTC investigation. Those records showed that Plaintiff participated in the CJTC investigation and provided damaging information about Morningstar. In the summer of 2023, Defendant Mortensen was running to be re-elected as Mayor. Plaintiff believed that Defendant Mortensen bore significant responsibility for permitting Morningstar’s sexual harassment and unethical behavior to occur. In his private capacity, Plaintiff spoke to Morton residents about supporting Defendant Mortensen’s challenger in the mayoral race. One of Mortensen’s supporters confronted Plaintiff about Plaintiff’s support for Mortensen’s political rival. Upon information and belief, Defendant Mortensen was aware of Plaintiff’s advocacy and support for Mortensen’s political rival. Defendant Mortensen abruptly terminated Plaintiff’s employment on or about September 18, 2023. Defendant Mortensen provided Plaintiff no reason for the termination.”
In the lawsuit, Peterson said there “is not a single document in Morton’s records” explaining why he was terminated aside from a notice of separation stating “Mayor (Mortensen) did not feel that the officer was a good fit for the police department.” Nor is there a personnel file reflecting any performance or disciplinary issues, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit notes that the police chief at the time of Peterson’s termination was Cole Cournyer, who did not recommend his firing.
Peterson claims his firing was motivated by his participation in the CJTC investigation and his support for Mortensen’s political rival, current Mayor Rick Mead.
“Because of the vacancy caused by Plaintiff’s termination, Defendant Mortensen hired a new officer, Derek Patsey, on or about November 1, 2023,” the lawsuit states. “At the time Mortensen hired Patsey, Patsey was under investigation by the CJTC for misconduct. Defendant Mortensen hired Patsey despite the ongoing CJTC investigation into him. After Defendant Mortensen was no longer mayor, Patsey was terminated for writing a false police report and lying to his supervisor during a fact-finding interview.”
Peterson is demanding a jury trial.
He claims he has suffered emotional distress and lost wages and benefits. He’s seeking damages to be determined by the court, including back pay, front pay and lost past and future benefits.
“Damages for emotional harm, including but not limited to emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, embarrassment, personal dignity, fear, anxiety and/or anguish, in an amount to be determined at trial,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks punitive damages against Morton and Mortensen “to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
Mortensen and the City of Morton were issued a summons June 30 noting they had 21 days to respond. The lawsuit was officially filed on June 27.
Issues in Morton
In an unrelated case, the former clerk-treasurer for the City of Morton pleaded guilty last May in U.S. District Court to a wire fraud charge connected to her nine-year scheme to steal nearly $1 million from city coffers, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller.
Tamara “Tammy” Clevenger served as the clerk-treasurer for Morton from 2012-2022. In 2024, an audit by the Washington state Auditor’s Office uncovered years of embezzlement totaling $937,584.
Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a three-year prison term, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which noted that judges are not bound by the recommendation and can impose any sentence allowed by law, after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
According to records filed in the case, including the plea agreement, Clevenger used a variety of ways to steal funds. Between November 2015 and December 2021, she stole at least $311,727 of cash that citizens had brought in to pay for city services.She also made unauthorized cash withdrawals with the City of Morton’s ATM card.
Between February 2013 and December 2021, Clevenger stole at least $625,857 by writing city checks to herself and depositing them in her bank account. Clevenger would use checks that had been pre-signed by the mayor for use in emergency situations. Clevenger used fake vendor invoices to make it appear the checks had been written for a service rendered to the city. Clevenger’s actions used interstate wires to commit the fraud with the transfer of funds between various bank accounts. One example is the transfer of $5,808 in funds from Washington to Umpqua bank servers located outside the state.
Following the audit, the City of Morton established new procedures so that no single person had control of the various banking functions.
The FBI and IRS worked with the Washington State Auditor’s Office on the criminal financial investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda McDowell.
Clevenger has agreed to make restitution to the City of Morton, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. She is reportedly receiving credit for some $8,626 that she deposited to city accounts via ATM machines.
Clevenger was the second former City of Morton official to be charged within the last year for financial fraud committed during their employment in Morton.
Morningstar was charged Dec. 18, 2024, in Lewis County Superior Court with two counts of second-degree identity theft and one count each of third-degree theft and abuse of office for allegedly using a city credit card to make unauthorized personal purchases between June 19, 2022, and June 10, 2023.
Morningstar has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Morningstar, who was hired as Morton’s police chief in 2016, resigned from the Morton Police Department in lieu of termination on June 2, 2023, after he failed a polygraph exam related to an internal investigation into complaints of sexual harassment, misused public funds and untruthful statements on his application to the department.
Before his resignation, he had been on administrative leave since the City of Morton opened its internal investigation on May 15, 2023.
The Washington state Criminal Justice Training Commission revoked Morningstar’s peace officer certification on Dec. 6, 2023, after he failed to request a hearing to defend against the allegations.
Chronicle reporter Owen Sexton contributed to this report.
