Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 726668.pdf

Marin took medical leave on January 5. The County asked for medical

information and tried to engage him in its process. Marin sent notes from two

doctors saying that work had aggravated his "acute situational stress" and

PTSD.2 The County requested more information. Marin did not provide it.

Instead, he gave notice he would retire in May 2011.

Procedural Facts

Marin sued the County in July 2011. He alleging six causes of action:

disparate treatment, hostile work environment, and failure to accommodate

2 One of Marin's doctors acknowledged at trial that Marin "probably" did
not have PTSD under the accepted definition.
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disabilities under the Washington Law Against Discrimination3 (WLAD), wrongful

discharge, and both intentional and negligent infliction ofemotional distress.

At the County's request, the court found that Marin's recordings of his

conversations with Sagnis violated the privacy act4 and excluded the recordings

and Marin's observations of the conversations. The court also sanctioned

Marin's counsel $5,000 for failing to disclose the recordings' existence until after

her firm deposed Sagnis.

After discovery, the trial court dismissed on summary judgment four of

Marin's claims: disparate treatment under WLAD, wrongful discharge, and both

types of emotional distress. Before trial, the court excluded evidence about

allegations that occurred before the limitations period began in May 2008, with

limited exceptions. The court also ruled that Marin could not offer evidence that

any coworker retaliated against him without first laying the foundation that the

coworker was aware of Marin's discrimination complaint.