Clark County’s lead attorney in a racial discrimination suit — won by a black former jail deputy following a jury trial in August — argued Friday that the county did not receive a fair trial. His motion for a new trial was denied, however.
Mitchell Cogen of Bullard Law in Portland said the Clark County Superior Court jury that awarded $500,000 in noneconomic damages to Britt Easterly was “improperly prejudiced.” The jury awarded Easterly $100,000 more than he sought.
Cogen said there was no evidence presented during the two-week trial that proved race played a factor in most of the issues Easterly raised.
Easterly was one of three African-American men who filed the suit against the county in 2009. He, former jail commander Clifford Evelyn and Elzy Patrick Edwards, a job applicant who was denied employment, alleged a pattern of racial discrimination by jail managers and officers. Evelyn’s and Edwards’ claims are pending in the Washington Court of Appeals.
Easterly was a custody officer from 2003 until he left the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in 2009 after being passed over for a promotion.
Among his claims, Easterly said he was denied training opportunities and subjected to racial slurs from inmates. In January 2008, he discovered photos posted on doors in the jail depicting a large African-American man wearing a grass skirt and feathered headdress, and dancing. At the top was written “871 on vacation?” — 871 was Easterly’s officer-assigned number.
The officer who posted the photo was disciplined, but when Easterly brought all of his concerns to the human resources department, it was determined they were unfounded.
On Friday, Cogen argued that evidence presented at trial, including decades of the sheriff’s office’s workplace history, confused the jury and resulted in a verdict based on “passion and emotion.” Most of the alleged racial incidents jurors heard did not involve Easterly’s personal workplace experiences, Cogen said. He used trial testimony from Evelyn as an example.
Cogen requested a new trial and said if that’s not granted, he would like presiding Judge Robert Lewis to evaluate the amount of damages awarded, on the grounds they are excessive and should be reduced.
There was little evidence that proved Easterly suffered emotional distress, Cogen argued. He added that Easterly’s Portland attorney, Thomas Boothe, challenged the jury to send a message to the county about eradicating racism through its verdict. He said the jury wanted to “make a point,” as quoted by a juror in The Columbian’s Aug. 19 story about the verdict.
Boothe countered that the jury’s verdict should stand and that it isn’t the judge’s place to “second-guess” it.
All of the evidence admitted at trial was relevant, he said, and the jury made a rational decision. Boothe argued that the court can’t impeach the jury’s verdict based on a interview a juror gave to The Columbian after the verdict: It’s hearsay.
He further argued that if the defense attorneys disagreed with his comments during closing arguments, they should have objected at that time.
As for the amount of damages, Boothe said $500,000 is not an excessive amount. If the award had been millions, that would be a different story, he said.
Lewis denied both of the county’s motions.
He said he couldn’t find that the evidence presented at trial was improper or that the amount of damages was excessive.
Although he was “surprised” by the jury’s verdict, Lewis said, the amount was not “shocking.”
