and he uses hearing aids. 1
The events relating to this retaliation claim began when Verduzco raised a
concern about bias in a hiring policy. According to Verduzco, his section manager
responded by yelling and berating him for delaying the hiring process. Verduzco
was stunned and embarrassed: he felt he was being treated like he was “dumb” and
1
While the text of the WLAD references race discrimination, no one disputes
it also protects against discrimination based on ethnicity. See, e.g., State v. Zamora,
199 Wn.2d 698, 704 n.6, 512 P.3d 512 (2022) (recognizing that “while ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Latinx’
identifies a person’s ethnicity and not their race, the language of race when discussing
these principles [of discriminatory misconduct] includes Hispanic and Latinx persons”
(citing Peña-Rodriguez v. Colorado, 580 U.S. 206, 214, 137 S. Ct. 855, 197 L. Ed. 2d 107 (2017);
About the Hispanic Population and its Origin, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU,
https://www.census.gov/topics/population/hispanic-origin/about.html [https://perma.cc/435J-
8PVB])). Verduzco described himself as Latino, Mexican, and a Person of Color. This opinion
uses the terms “race” and “ethnicity” to encompass those identities.
2
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
Verduzco v. King County
No. 103749-0
“stupid” and his hiring decisions were not being taken seriously because he is
Mexican. 12 Verbatim Rep. of Proc. (VRP) at 1461-62.
Verduzco documented that interaction in several e-mails to human resources,
DNRP leadership, and members of the People of Color affinity group. He reported
that the section manager was retaliating against him for raising concerns about bias
and described her behavior as abusive and part of a pattern of racism at DNRP.