Disqualification Waived By Late-Blooming Motion

The Washington State Court of Appeals – Second Division – has refused to disqualify an attorney in civil litigation.

The attorney had been consulted by a (now former) deputy prosecutor concerning employment issues arising from his proposed run for the top job. She then represented two employees of the same office in connection with sexual harassment claims against the deputy prosecutor.

The court held that the delay of 18 months in seeking disqualification had resulted in the attorney’s extensive involvement in the matter. Thus, the former client had waived the right to raise the disqualification issue.

An earlier decision of the court set forth the alleged facts in the litigation

Brown is a former deputy prosecuting attorney for Klickitat County. During his employment with the county, he had supervisory authority over administrative assistants Robin Eubanks and Erin Gray. In 2010, Eubanks and Gray sued Brown, Klickitat County, and the Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, alleging that Brown sexually harassed them while they worked in the prosecutor’s office. Noting that they were suing Brown individually, they alleged that he regularly sat in their shared office with his pants unzipped and his legs spread open on his desk; that he positioned himself in the office doorway so that they would need to rub against him when they left; that he licked his lips constantly while talking to them; that he stared at them while they worked and followed them around the office; that he gave unwanted gifts to Eubanks; and that he stared at Gray’s breasts during conversations.

(Mike Frisch)