Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 387844_pub.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 387844_pub.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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In Vallet, the city of Seattle required Emile Vallet, a retiring police officer, to

make an election whether to retire under the pension law in effect when he was hired or

the pension law in effect when he retired. Id. at 14-15. The Vallet court rejected Seattle’s

argument that the election was an enforceable waiver. Id. at 15-16. Rather, it held that a

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For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.

No. 38784-4-III
Elgiadi v. Wash. State Univ.

civil servant must be paid the amount prescribed by law and any agreement to accept less

is contrary to public policy and is void. Id. at 15.

In construing Vallet, the Helgeson court distinguished between vested rights and

contingent rights. Helgeson, 75 Wn. App. at 181-82. It reasoned that because Vallet had

a vested right to a statutorily defined retirement amount, he could not waive it. Id. at 182.

Distinguishing Vallet from the case before it, the Helgeson court reasoned that Helgeson

did not have a vested right to payment of medical services when he signed the settlement

agreement. Id. at 183. For this reason, the Helgeson court concluded that enforcement of

Helgeson’s waiver of those rights did not violate public policy. Id. at 183-84.

Here, Mr. Elgiadi did not work for WSU-Spokane when he signed the settlement

agreement. He had no vested right to be rehired. Consistent with Helgeson, we conclude

that Mr. Elgiadi’s waiver of his right to be rehired does not violate public policy.

Zhu does not require a different conclusion. There, the court emphasized that “‘a

plaintiff bringing a discrimination case in Washington assumes the role of a private

attorney general, vindicating a policy of the highest priority.’” Zhu, 189 Wn.2d at 614