Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 723448.pdf

Protection Act, chapter 42.41 RCW, is to protect local government employees who

make a good faith report of improper actions taken by officials and employees and

provide remedies for whistleblowers subjected to retaliation for making such reports.

RCW 42.41.010 states:

Policy. It is the policy of the legislature that local government employees
should be encouraged to disclose, to the extent not expressly prohibited
by law, improper governmental actions of local government officials and
employees. The purpose of this chapter is to protect local government
employees who make good-faith reports to appropriate governmental
bodies and to provide remedies for such individuals who are subjected to
retaliation for having made such reports.

RCW 42.41.020(3) defines "retaliatory action" as (a) any adverse change in the

employee's terms or conditions of employment or (b) hostile actions by another

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employee that were encouraged by a supervisor or senior manager. RCW

42.41.020(3) states:

"Retaliatory action" means: (a) Any adverse change in a local
government employee's employment status, or the terms and conditions
of employment including denial of adequate staff to perform duties,
frequent staff changes, frequent and undesirable office changes, refusal to
assign meaningful work, unwarranted and unsubstantiated letters of
reprimand or unsatisfactory performance evaluations, demotion, transfer,
reassignment, reduction in pay, denial of promotion, suspension,
dismissal, or any other disciplinary action; or (b) hostile actions by
another employee towards a local government employee that were
encouraged by a supervisor or senior manager or official.[4]