and this court has clearly held that retaliation constitutes misfeasance, malfeasance,
or a violation of the oath of office.
In Riddle, for example, we held that “[w]here an official credibly threatens
retaliation in his or her official capacity, ‘such threats alone would be . . . wrongful
by any standard.’” In re Recall of Riddle, 189 Wn.2d 565, 581, 403 P.3d 849 (2017)
14
In re Recall of William O’Neil et al., No.105253-7
(second alteration in original) (quoting In re Recall of Lee, 122 Wn.2d 613, 619, 859
P.2d 1244 (1993) (per curiam)). In that case, Yakima County Clerk Janelle Riddle
faced recall for, among other things, threatening to close the Yakima County
Superior Court and the Yakima County Clerk’s Office. The court rejected Riddle’s
argument that the charge was legally insufficient because she did not actually shut
down the court as she threatened. Id. at 581. Relying on Lee, the court reasoned that
the threat of retaliation alone was wrongful by any standard. Id.
In Lee, the mayor of Pe Ell faced recall for threatening to fire law enforcement
officers if they issued her a traffic citation. 122 Wn.2d 613. Lee argued that the
charge was inadequate because “it does not allege that any police officer ever
refrained from issuing her a citation because of what she said.” Id. at 618-19. This
court held that “such threats alone would be a clear abuse of the mayor’s position of
authority over the police department and would be wrongful by any standard.” Id. at
619; see also In re Recall of Hatcher, 196 Wn.2d 797, 829-30, 478 P.3d 1077 (2021)
(“For an elected official to threaten jobs of employees who are not ‘loyal’ to the
official is a violation of the oath of office and is wrongful conduct.”).