By Jonathan Martin, The Seattle Times Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jul. 25-- The head of Western State Hospital was fired yesterday amid an increasingly costly sexual-harassment scandal that has riled staff and stirred up new allegations of wrongdoing.
C. Jan Gregg was fired yesterday by Department of Social and Health Services officials a week after an investigative report was completed on the handling of sexual-harassment complaints, alleged patient abuse and other problems at the hospital.
Gregg's boss, Karl Brimner, refused to discuss the termination, except to say he sought better 'accountability and communication' at the Lakewood, Pierce County, hospital.The firing was part of a reorganization of the hospital personnel and polices intended to make it a 'secure and healthy place for all our employees,' said DSHS Secretary Dennis Braddock. 'We believe we have to get someone in there who doesn't have any connection to the past.'
Gregg had run DSHS' largest institution since July 2000, overseeing 1,900 employees caring for 890 patients in a high-pressure and highly unionized environment.
Gregg, 61, will receive 30 days' paid severance; she was paid $90,744 a year. She could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The hospital has been in turmoil since April, when DSHS agreed to pay therapist Kathleen Lizee $896,000 to settle her lawsuit alleging chronic sexual harassment by a co-worker and retaliation by Gregg.
At least a dozen women came forward to offer similar stories of harassment and their fears of professional conse...uences reporting the incidents to Gregg or her staff.
Lizee's lawsuit focused on the alleged actions of Barrette Green, a hospital employee and prominent union leader. Gregg drew criticism for promoting Green to be the hospital's risk manager only a month after he was reprimanded for making sexually inappropriate comments.
Green then was put on paid home leave in April, pending an investigation into the harassment allegations that arose from Lizee's lawsuit.
Yesterday morning, hospital employees were notified by letter that Jack Morris, deputy director of the Mental Health Division, would replace Gregg, effective immediately. It failed to mention that Gregg had been fired.
DSHS did not notify the hospital's largest union, the Washington Federation of State Employees, about the termination, either, said union spokesman Tim Welch. 'If this is an example of how they're improving communication, they've really failed.'
It was following the Lizee settlement that DSHS launched the investigation on sexual harassment at the hospital. It also hired a firm to look into other allegations of financial impropriety.
In addition, the Pierce County Superior Court judge who heard Lizee's suit ordered DSHS to hire a special master to monitor hospital policies on sexual harassment and workplace violence.
DSHS budgeted at least $285,000 for those investigations. The special master, Seattle attorney Michael Reiss, is scheduled to be paid $360 an hour, and to work sporadically for at least a year.
The first investigation wrapped up last week when Boise, Idaho, consultant Jan Salisbury turned in a lengthy report.
Hospital sources say Salisbury interviewed at least 60 employees, some of whom disclosed more alleged sexual-harassment incidents at the hospital, along with allegations of patient abuse and financial impropriety.
The Seattle Times and KING-TV have re...uested Salisbury's report, but DSHS delayed its disclosure, saying it wanted to give employees named in the document an opportunity to seek a court injunction barring release of their names.
Brimner refused to say if allegations in Salisbury's report prompted Gregg's firing. 'I'm not going to comment on any investigations. All investigations have been sealed.'
Gregg was hired by DSHS in 1997 after helping reform Ohio's mental-health system. She ran Eastern State Hospital near Spokane for three years before moving to Western State Hospital.
During her tenure, the hospital opened a $50 million criminal forensic unit, weathered the 2001 Nis...ually earth...uake, and accommodated a series of ward closures ordered by the Legislature. The hospital this month is expected to show a $1 million deficit on its annual budget because of budget cutbacks and the costs of improving services to developmentally disabled patients, according to minutes from the hospital advisory board.
To see more of The Seattle Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.seattletimes.com.
(c) 2003, The Seattle Times. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
