SEATTLE — The city of Seattle has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by a teacher who was pepper-sprayed by a police officer after giving a speech at the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day march in 2015.
The Seattle Times reports that Jesse Hagopian, a history teacher at Garfield High School, reached the settlement with the city last month and the case was dismissed in court on Monday.
In his civil rights complaint, Hagopian says he suffered difficulty breathing, anxiety and stress after an officer pepper sprayed him while he was walking on a sidewalk and talking on his cellphone.
The Office of Professional Accountability determined that Officer Sandra DeLaFuente’s use of spray wasn’t reasonable or necessary and that Hagopian posed no threat.
