Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 989681.pdf

Citation: Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 989681.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/989681.pdf ↗

Related Parts of This Source

Full Text

1,771 chars

Finally, on June 23, 2020, Sheriff Hatcher, on live radio, made false

accusations that recently retired Commander Croskrey had issues related to his

time cards. The facts surrounding this allegation date back to November 2019. At

that time, Commander Croskrey was in charge of the BCSO for two weeks due to

the domestic violence allegations against Sheriff Hatcher. Given the nature of the

allegations, Commander Croskrey handled Ms. Hatcher’s case and created the

domestic violence safety plan. When Sheriff Hatcher returned from his leave, he

told Commander Croskrey “‘When I find out who’s talking to my wife, they’re

through!’” Id. at 90. Although it was policy for Commander Croskrey to create the

plan, he believed that his employment was at risk because he was an “at will”

34
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
In re Recall Charges Against Benton County Sheriff Gerald D. Hatcher,
No. 98968-1

employee and “Sheriff Hatcher is consumed with hostility, anger, and engages in

the use of deception and lies when he sees the need for such action.” Id.

Around this time, Sheriff Hatcher was angry about the Guild writing public

letters indicating they did not support the sheriff. Sheriff Hatcher threatened to

interview all the deputies and make them “‘Brady cops.’” 4 Id. at 94. This was

especially concerning to Commander Croskrey as his son is a deputy, and he

believed it to be a threat to both of their jobs. After one conversation in which

Sheriff Hatcher told Commander Croskrey that he was going to investigate the

commander’s son, “for what appeared to be no reason,” Sheriff Hatcher asked

Commander Croskrey “to call the Tri-City Herald and give them a positive

supporting for him.” Id. at 95.