Sheila Unger, the former board administrative coordinator for the three-person Lewis County Commission, is seeking over $757,000, alleging she was regularly harassed and discriminated against because of her age by Commissioner Bill Schulte.
Unger, 57, argues in a claim filed against the county that she was "verbally attacked" and "was afraid for her safety because of the amount of anger expressed" by Schulte, 54, during a specific altercation on Sept. 10, according to documents.
She also alleges Schulte wouldn't allow her to effectively do her job and that the county failed to protect her from Schulte's "bullying tactics."
However, an outside investigator, Seabold Group, hired by the Washington Counties Risk Pool, drew a contrasting conclusion after reading a sampling of e-mails between Schulte and Unger, looking over 1,600 pages of documents and interviewing 18 witnesses.
"The evidence does establish that Ms. Unger has a history of hostile behavior toward co-workers and toward Commissioners that she does not like," according to the investigation, "and that during the period of her complaint she engaged in equal if not worse behavior toward Mr. Schulte and toward her co-workers."
The investigation stated most witnesses reported Unger had "engaged in very hostile behavior toward them" and some, including former and current commissioners, feared upsetting her and invoking the "wrath of Sheila," also referred to by some as "the wrath of God."
Schulte denies harassing her in the investigation, but admits the two had a tumultuous working relationship. Three months after the election, Unger told him "that she did not like him, did not vote for him, and he was not her favorite person."
"I always got attitude; she got upset, so I quit asking her for stuff," Schulte told investigators, adding that her allegations that he yelled at her were "all fabrication." "At worst I avoid her; she is unhappy anytime I ask her to do something."
Schulte, a Dryad Republican, also stated in the investigation that he was told to beware of Unger by former Commissioner Eric Johnson, a Centralia Democrat.
"He had two regrets when he was commissioner, and one of them was that he was not successful in firing Ms. Unger," investigators recorded Schulte saying about Johnson.
Johnson told investigators he didn't recall that conversation with Schulte, but that he had "significant performance issues" with Unger. Johnson added that the other two commissioners at the time "treated her with kid gloves."
Witnesses also reported hearing Unger say "it was not a good day because no one she supported got elected," the day after Schulte was elected. Some witnesses also recalled Unger advising another co-worker shortly after Schulte was elected that he planned to sexually harass her. The independent investigator found no evidence to support Schulte ever sexually harassed Unger.
The investigation also calls into question Unger's credibility, stating some of her testimony "seemed unlikely to be completely truthful. At best her statements were subjective, but that in part appears to be based on the intensity of emotions Ms. Unger has regarding these workplace issues."
During an interview, she brought up a reprimand from 2009 and said she didn't know what it was about. It was later discovered Unger was punished because she told one of her employees to lie about receiving a bid for a Sheriff's auction that had been misplaced.
Investigators also questioned how she received a piece of evidence she provided calculating her pay and comparing it against one of her employees. Unger said she found it on the floor, and it was proof of how one of her employees and Schulte planned to oust her. The employee said she did in fact compare both of their salaries, but did so alone and kept the sheet of paper in a notebook on her desk, and didn't recall throwing it away.
Unger also alleged that she sent 300 to 400 e-mails to Schulte that were never responded to, providing an e-mail to the investigators. However, it was determined that the e-mail Unger provided was altered. Investigators reviewed documents provided by the county's information technology department and found that Schulte had responded to the e-mail in question.
Some interviewed for the investigation called her "poison," and one witness flatly said he didn't trust her.
Unger could not be reached by The Chronicle for comment, but discredited the report in a letter sent to the county in October.
"The investigative report chose a character assassination on me rather than investigating the real facts regarding Commissioner Schulte's behavior," she wrote. "I expected no less than the biased, one sided, gossip ridden report that did not address the true complaint of Commissioner Schulte's hostile behavior."
Seabold did find evidence that supported the description of Schulte's style of interaction as "abrupt, particularly when he wants to get something done." However, the Seattle-based firm could find nothing that indicated Schulte singled Unger out, or that he only treats older women that way.
One female supervisor over age 50 scoffed at the assertion.
"Age discrimination? Ludicrous," she said. "I'm older than (Unger) is and if anything I get respect because I'm older. There is not age discrimination, not by this Board."
Schulte declined to comment on the investigation directly due to the potential for an upcoming lawsuit.
"We'll wait to see what's going on," he said. "We haven't heard from her since she resigned. She has options, so we'll see what she does."
Lewis County has no intention of paying $757,000 claim Unger filed. Unger will have the opportunity to file a lawsuit against the county, 60 days after her initial claim was filed in mid-October. It will then be up to the Washington Counties Risk Pool whether they choose to settle or go to trial after considering all the evidence and aspects of the case.
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Click to download the complete investigator's report.
