Patterson Buchanan Wins Summary Judgment for City

A Washington superior court has dismissed a lawsuit against the City of Burlington defended by Patterson Buchanan.

The case arose from the 2008 firing by Skagit County of an employee for, among other things, allegedly assaulting a City of Burlington employee at the Burlington Senior Center in anger over audible fire alarm testing. The county employee worked at the city facility under an interlocal agreement whereby the county provides senior services to the city.

The fired county employee sued the City of Burlington in Skagit County Superior Court, alleging that the city, and specifically the mayor and several employees of the Parks and Recreation Department, had defamed him and that its actions amounted to tortious interference with a business expectancy in his continued employment with Skagit County.

Patterson Buchanan's attorneys filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that no one at the City of Burlington had defamed the plaintiff, and that in any event the communications between the city and the county regarding his conditions of employment were privileged. The city further argued that there could be no tortious interference with a business expectancy because, among other reasons, the plaintiff had been an “at will” employee with no expectation of infinite continued employment, and because the county had terminated his employment based not merely on information from the city but on its own independent investigation.

On November 2, 2011, the Honorable John M. Meyer granted the city’s motion for summary judgment, finding that no genuine issue of material fact remained for resolution at trial with respect to either of the plaintiff’s claims, and therefore judgment as a matter of law in favor of the city was appropriate.

Patterson Buchanan attorney Sarah Mack argued the motion on behalf of the City of Burlington. The case is Ostheller v. City of Burlington.

Post-script: On December 1, 2011, the plaintiff served notice that he is appealing the trial court's decision to the Washington Court of Appeals.