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Bunch v. King County Department of Youth Services7/21/2005
Concurring: James Johnson, Barbara A. Madsen, Bobbe J Bridge, Charles W. Johnson, Gerry L Alexander, Susan Owens, Tom Chambers, Mary Fairhurst
En Banc
Ralph Bunch sued King County Department of Youth Services for racial employment discrimination, obtaining over $600,000 in a jury award. The Court of Appeals affirmed but reduced the non-economic portion of the damages from $260,000 to $25,000, an award which Bunch could accept or opt for a new trial on the damages issue alone. The county petitioned this court for review of the limitation of a new trial to damages only, which we denied. However, Bunch cross-petitioned, challenging the Court of Appeals' remittitur. We granted review and now hold the Court of Appeals improperly granted the remittitur.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Ralph Bunch is an African-American, who served in the Navy before working as a prison guard at the Monroe reformatory from 1979-91. In 1991 he switched to the Department of Youth Services in juvenile detention. His supervisor, colleagues, and the director of the department all praised Bunch's performance with the inmates.
Despite good reviews, one fellow detention officer testified that management viewed Bunch as a problem: 'Mr. Bunch was thought of as a problem because he spoke out against things that he felt were wrong.' Report of Proceedings (RP) at 1396. In 1995 and again in 1998 Bunch testified against the county in employment discrimination trials and later noticed increased disciplinary action by the management.
Bunch was disciplined for a variety of minor offenses. In May 1995 he was suspended for five days for allegedly swearing at a youth during a heated exchange between several inmates. Another staff member heard the exchange and denied hearing Bunch swear. Bunch was also suspended for not reporting the sexual abuse of an inmate. Bunch believed the incident had already been reported. He was suspended for 10 days for driving away from the facility during his lunch break, an action that Bunch routinely observed others doing without punishment. Youth Services Director Bob Williams noted this punishment was the severest he had observed, and he was unaware of any white person being punished for leaving the facility. He reduced the total days of Bunch's suspensions based on the progress he saw in Bunch.
Bunch was later reprimanded for using a wrist lock on an inmate, a move he had used before and had never been told was forbidden. He was suspended for five days for giving a letter of recommendation directly to an inmate. Another staff member testified to writing and delivering similar letters without any reprimand. Bunch was reprimanded for violating the 'level system,' and for horseplay with an inmate, which was common. Bunch believes he was the only person to be disciplined for violating the level system, and other testimony confirms this suspicion. A number of other employees also testified of racial discrimination at the department, including disparate discipline for violations.
Bunch sued the department for employment discrimination in 1999 under Washington's Law Against Discrimination, chapter 49.60 RCW. In April 2001 management decided to terminate Bunch's employment based on the testimony of several inmates that Bunch showed them an R-rated video on January 1, 2001. The inmates took polygraph tests with varying results. Bunch denied showing that or any other video.
Bunch now works elsewhere as a security guard, making less than he did at the county. He described the effect on his family as a 'phenomenal . . . crushing blow financially.' Report of Proceedings (RP) at 1182. He had to e
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