House Settles Final Campaigning Lawsuit

Sat., March 2, 1996

From Staff And Wire Reports

The state has agreed to pay $140,000 to settle the fourth and final lawsuit against the House of Representatives over illegal campaigning using legislative staff and resources.

The settlement with Kathy Mailey was reached Thursday, 11 days before her suit was to be tried in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. The state doesn’t acknowledge any liability in the settlement.

Mailey, who worked for then-Rep. Brian Ebersole, who is now mayor of Tacoma, had claimed she was demoted and denied other positions because she complained about the illegal campaigning to Ebersole and House attorney Cathy Maynard.

A Public Disclosure Commission investigation in 1992 found widespread violations of the law against campaigning using public resources. The PDC fined the four legislative caucuses $100,000 each, and imposed lesser penalties on a senior staff member from each caucus. , DataTimes

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