Investigation accuses Caldier of naming names – Gig Harbor Now

Community Government

An investigation ordered by the Washington State House of Representatives alleges that Rep. Michelle Caldier violated the chamber’s respectful workplace policy by retaliating against House staff.

It follows an earlier investigation in 2023 in which Caldier was accused of mistreating and bullying employees. Caldier claims they retaliated against her because she sought a solution to her vision problem.

Kathleen Haggard of the law firm Haggard & Ganson conducted the latest investigation on behalf of House Senior Secretary Bernard Dean. In an April 3 report released to the media on May 6, she said Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, disclosed to multiple press outlets the names of three caucus staffers who spoke about Caldier’s conduct during the earlier investigation had. One of the names was published in a local newspaper.

MP Michelle Caldier speaks during the parliamentary vote in January. Photo by Ed Friedrich

The identities of complainants and witnesses in investigations must be protected and only disclosed when necessary, Haggard said in the policy.

“The majority of the evidence supports the finding that Representative Caldier’s actions violated the Respectful Workplace Policy,” Haggard concluded. “Caldier’s actions were retaliatory and victimizing; She took action against the witnesses by not only revealing their names but also portraying them as political activists. This could have damaged her career. This was a breach of respect, dignity and civility and breached the legislative code of conduct.”

Caldier is seeking a sixth two-year term in the state House of Representatives, representing the 26th District. Her challenger is Josh Smith, a former National Weather Service meteorologist and employee of the state’s elections department who is running as an independent candidate. Smith is also a Gig Harbor resident. Political candidates can officially apply for the 2024 election this week.

The underlying investigation

An independent investigation released in December by the chief secretary found that Caldier had breached House of Representatives policies on abusive behavior and bullying. The investigation was conducted by attorney Sheryl J. Willert of the Williams Kastner Law Firm.

The Office of the Chief Secretary made the request on December 14, 2022, approximately one month after a verbal incident between Caldier and House Republican Caucus staff at the Spokane Airport on November 18, 2022.

The incident occurred as lawmakers and caucus staff prepared to leave Spokane following a meeting of the House Republican Organizing Committee. During this meeting, Caldier resigned from the caucus, which she later explained was because she was frustrated by disagreements with the caucus leadership and what she felt was a failure to adequately respond to her vision loss.

Caldier returned to the House Republican caucus this spring after former minority leader Rep. JT Wilcox of Yelm resigned.

Caldier received a copy of Willert’s report on December 15, 2023. She responded on December 18 by emailing a press release to multiple news outlets. Attached was an email from her attorney, Edward Younglove III. The press release named “three primary complainants” who it said initiated the investigation. It was claimed the investigation was in retaliation against her for questioning Wilcox’s leadership.

Caldier told Haggard that the policy does not specifically prohibit members from revealing the identities of complainants and witnesses. At least it’s vague. Her lawyer wrote that the rules should be clarified rather than penalizing members for misinterpreting vague guidelines.

On December 20, 2023, Chief Clerk Dean Caldier notified that the House of Representatives intended to investigate their possible policy violations. He sent her the report on Friday, which resulted in it being released to the media on Monday.

Caldier’s appeal is pending

Caldier’s appeal is pending before the Executive Rules Committee in the underlying investigation because Republican leadership has held off on making a decision until that retaliatory investigation is completed, Dean said Monday. Now they will consider both the appeal and how to respond to the new allegations. He expects this to happen “in the next week or so.”

In December, Dean restricted Caldier’s access to employees, forcing them to seek help through senior managers rather than contacting employees directly. The caucus assigned her a legislative assistant, but with restrictions such as limited overtime and regular check-ins.

“These were interim measures taken while this retaliatory investigation was being conducted to protect staff from further problems,” Dean said. “Now that the retaliation investigation is complete, we need to make decisions about what to do next, whether to keep the restrictions in place or change them, etc.”

Caldier gave up her committee assignments when she left the caucus, but got them back at the end of the legislative session, Dean said.

Representative Michelle Caldier

Caldier arrived at a wedding in Cancun on Monday and said the attacks against her were all political. Monday was the first day of restrictions in the election year.

“The assumption is that everything that is released by the Legislature is campaign-related, which is saying a lot because it is very campaign-related,” she said. “…Essentially the only way you can defend yourself in this trial is through the press, and the press hasn’t been so kind to me. I felt I had to release the names to provide context that these were JT Wilcox’s top three staffers, and I had just left the caucus the day before.

“It was all connected, it wasn’t like random people showing up and filing lawsuits against me. It was very coordinated, very cohesive.”

Believes the public can see through politics

The investigation found that the three people named were not beholden to Wilcox and were not of the “highest rank.” It added that “not all of them have supervisory powers, let alone the ‘highest’ rank.” They denied being puppets of the faction leadership.

Forty-four members have signed a request to the speaker to put together a working group to review the process, which is unclear, Caldier said. She believes that people will see through the politics.

“People are smarter than political leaders think,” she said. “I think the community knows that’s not who I am. I have to trust that they will. The goal of the process is to destroy your reputation so that you cannot be re-elected. It should not be used as a weapon at all.

“What they have written is not at all in keeping with my character and I have to trust that the public will see through it all. If they don’t do it, they don’t do it. This is politics.”