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Woman sues Vancouver, alleges bullying

Former employee says city failed to protect her from 'aggressive' boss

By Amy Fischer, Columbian City Government Reporter
Published: March 8, 2015, 12:00am

A former city of Vancouver employee is suing her former supervisor and the city for gender discrimination and negligence, alleging that her male boss harassed, bullied and intimidated her for two years, and that the city failed to intervene when she complained.

The city and defendant Kevin Yin, the city’s procurement services manager, deny the allegations, Assistant City Attorney Daniel Lloyd said in a written statement Thursday.

“The city has a policy of zero tolerance when it comes to harassment, discrimination and retaliation,” Lloyd said.

Neither the city nor Yin can comment further, he said, adding that the city and Yin will file a response to the allegations with the court.

Plaintiff Kimberly Armstrong worked for the city as a procurement specialist from 2002 to 2013. According to the complaint filed Feb. 24 in Clark County Superior Court, Armstrong resigned after developing sleeplessness, depression, anxiety, nausea and stress-related pain that led to medical complications.

Her lawsuit contends that the city, among other things, breached its duties to her by failing to maintain a safe workplace, tolerating Yin’s wrongful behavior and failing to protect her from a “hostile, intimidating and abusive environment.”

According to court documents, the trouble began in June 2011 when the city hired Yin as procurement services manager, putting him directly over Armstrong. The suit alleges Yin “almost immediately began a pattern of hyperscrutiny and aggressive actions” toward her, and that she soon became “terrified” of him. When she reported his behavior to the finance director, human resources and the city manager, “the city sheltered and supported Yin, ratifying his actions,” the court documents say.

The suit alleges that Yin was known to dislike women in general, saw them as inferior to men, and that other female city employees complained to higher-ups about the difficulty of their interactions with him. Two other longtime employees quit their jobs after filling vacancies in Yin’s department, the documents say.

Armstrong, who worked in public service more than 35 years, never had a single human resources issue until Yin was hired, the suit says. The stress of working for Yin became so intense that Armstrong would break out in hives when interacting with him or simply talking about him, according to court documents.

Requesting a jury trial, Armstrong contends that as a result of Yin’s conduct she suffered economic and noneconomic damages. She also wants to be awarded attorney’s fees and other costs.

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Columbian City Government Reporter