OLYMPIA — A federal jury awarded a former Washington state Department of Social and Health Services employee $2.4 million on Friday, finding she faced retaliation for reporting discrimination and for blowing the whistle on unethical practices at the agency.
Kim Snell sued the department and two managers in October 2020 in U.S. District Court. The case went to trial in late May, lasting seven days.
Snell began working for DSHS in 2013, joining the Office of Financial Recovery, which is essentially the department’s collections agency, the next year. She “went from a rising star in the (Office of Financial Recovery) to being forced out of DSHS once she demonstrated that she refused to turn a blind eye to Defendants’ discriminatory and unethical practices” that violated state laws, her lawyers argued in court records.
Snell alleged she was retaliated against for raising a slew of concerns about goings-on within the office, including over “anti-gay remarks” made in the office by her supervisor and the agency’s handling of the incident. Snell reported to human resources that her signature had been forged on a form, among other issues.
