IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON ABUBACARR WAGGEH, ) No. 79876-6-I ) Appellant/Cross-Respondent, ) DIVISION ONE ) v. ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION ) THE STATE OF WASHINGTON ) DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, ) and MIKE OBENLAND, and DANIEL ) W. WHITE, SUPERINTENDENT OF ) SPECIAL OFFENDER ) UNIT/INTENSIVE MANAGEMENT ) UNIT, ) ) Respondents/Cross-Appellants. ) ) HAZELRIGG, J. — Abubacarr Waggeh seeks review of summary judgment for his former employer, the State of Washington Department of Corrections (DOC), on his claims of discrimination and retaliation under the Washington Law Against Discrimination.1 He also argues that the trial court erred in striking evidence of a settlement offer that DOC made to him in an effort to resolve a grievance filed by Waggeh and his union. DOC cross-appeals, arguing that the court erred in denying its motion to strike evidence submitted by Waggeh that was inadmissible or related to events outside the statute of limitations. 1 Chap. 49.60, RCW. Citations and pinpoint citations are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material. No. 79876-6-I/2 Waggeh failed to demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact on his claims because he did not satisfy his burden to show that DOC’s articulated legitimate reason for his termination was a pretext for discriminatory or retaliatory intent. The court did not err in striking evidence of a settlement offer that was submitted as proof of liability. We affirm.2 FACTS Abubacarr Waggeh began working for the Department of Corrections (DOC) in January 2008. He was employed as a corrections officer at the Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC) for nearly eight years and primarily worked in the visit room at the facility. DOC investigated Waggeh for allegations of misconduct and inappropriate conduct with visitor and offenders under DOC supervision. In July 2015, Waggeh filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and filed an amended complaint on September 21, 2015. Waggeh was fired in October 2015. The EEOC issued a right to sue letter on February 11, 2016. Waggeh filed suit against DOC and two superintendents at the facility raising claims of wrongful termination, retaliation, harassment and hostile work environment, discrimination, defamation, and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. DOC moved for summary judgment on all claims. In support of its motion, it filed a declaration of Sherry Lucas, a human resources consultant employed by DOC at the MCC. The Lucas declaration attached copies of DOC 2 In light of this result, we need not address DOC’s cross-appeal because any error made by the trial court in considering inadmissible evidence was necessarily harmless. -2- No. 79876-6-I/3 policies and Waggeh’s personnel records, including incident reports, investigation records, and discipline records. DOC also filed a declaration of counsel with excerpts from Waggeh’s deposition testimony. The declarations and attached exhibits established the following facts. DOC maintains numerous policies and trains its employees on their rights and obligations under those policies. DOC has a zero tolerance policy for all forms of sexual misconduct, and ...
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