Two Washington Employees Sue State over Whistleblower Retaliation

By Aaron Poehler

Published on August 13, 2007

According to the terms of the suit, Teresa E.L. Bienick, a finance employee in the Mental Health Division of the Department of Social and Health Services, objected to a $310,000 contract payment made from the department to Fairfax Hospital in Kirkland and filed a whistleblower suit.

Bienick says that after filing the whistleblower suit, she was subjected to retaliation that included verbal and mental abuse, unjustified scrutiny, removal of job duties, and harassment. Co-claimant Katherine Shipman-Thompson says that she complained after observing this retaliatory treatment of Bienick, which led to similar treatment being directed against Shipman-Thompson. Bienick still works in the Mental Health Division, but Shipman-Thompson has since retired.

While state auditors investigating Bienick’s whistleblower claim found no improprieties in the issuance of the contract, they did find evidence suggesting the payment was made without proper documentation showing that Fairfax Hospital had actually performed the psychiatric services it supposedly provided.

A spokesperson for the Department of Social and Health Services declined to comment on the case at this time.

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