Lawsuit Has Mental Health Center In Uproar Supervisors Accused Of Drug Use, Sex Abuse And Persecution In Okanogan County

The Okanogan County Mental Health Center is supposed to be a therapeutic haven for troubled residents in rugged north central Washington.

But a dozen former and current employees claim it’s a hostile place where supervisors abused drugs, sexually harassed women and persecuted people who complained.

The charges surfaced in a lawsuit filed against the county-run clinic and in a state investigation into two clinic supervisors.

One supervisor lied that he had a master’s degree, was once arrested for domestic violence and was accused by an ex-wife of putting a gun to her temple, according to the state investigation, obtained by The Spokesman-Review.

Another supervisor in the Omak-based clinic resigned after complaints about his behavior, including an alleged affair with a 21-year-old receptionist and an accusation he had sex in his office with a woman with a multiple-personality disorder.

The state Department of Health examined some of the charges and confirmed enough to suspend the two counselors’ licenses for three years and fine them $5,000 each.

The suspensions were waived and the fines cut to $500 on the condition they don’t get in more trouble during the next three years.

Agency Director Jim Blue says most of the allegations are reckless and groundless. He also says the agency is running well despite the uproar.

But some private counselors say the agency’s reputation is so tainted patients tell them they fear going to the clinic.

The behavior of the two men disciplined by the state fits into a bigger pattern of problems at the clinic, according to a $1.67 million lawsuit filed by nine former and two current employees.

Blue, agency director since 1972, said the lawsuit against his agency hinges on hearsay.

“I don’t think there’s any merit to it at all,” he said. “These are allegations. There is going to be a hearing on this. I feel confident these people are going to be vindicated.”

The lawsuit asserts Blue himself abused drugs and alcohol during and after working hours. “I deny that,” he said. “I have no idea where that came from.”

Blue supervises a staff of about 75 people spread throughout Okanogan County. The main clinic is in Omak, with satellites in Twisp, Brewster, Tonasket, Oroville and Coulee Dam.

The clinics provide more counseling than any private service in the region, and possess the county’s only license to accept medical coupons from poor patients.

“I have a very professional staff,” Blue said, “and I’m very proud of them.”

But the lawsuit filed in Chelan County Superior Court contains a litany of grievances, including discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful firings, defamation, invasion of privacy, outrage, negligent hiring and more.

The suit also claims that anyone who gripes about the problems gets punished, in terms of workload, missed promotions or verbal lashings.

The case is not scheduled to be tried until next summer.

This clash inside the county’s mental health community has stewed for more than two years. In the spring of 1994, some workers complained to Okanogan County.

The county personnel officer reviewed the complaints and dismissed them. “The only common thread in all the statements was the lack of any direct knowledge of any incidents,” the county stated in a statement last year.

A Seattle law firm later was hired by the county to examine the complaints and found no wrongdoing by clinic supervisors.

But the complaints and incidents continued.

In January 1995, clinic supervisor Lyle Osier was arrested for possessing marijuana and allegedly propositioning a 16-year-old boy for oral sex. The solicitation charge later was dropped, but Osier resigned.

At least eight former or current clinic workers complained in pretrial statements about inappropriate behavior of past supervisor Ronald L. Wise, who worked at the county’s main clinic.

They claimed Wise routinely sexually harassed workers, including engaging in a sexual affair with his 21-year-old secretary.

A former girlfriend of Wise’s described him as a “manipulative rageaholic” who abused drugs, according to a state investigative report.

A state investigator also interviewed a woman who’d been diagnosed with a multiple-personality disorder.

She claimed she twice had sex with Wise in his office, once during a therapy session with him, the other time after Wise got her hired as a clinic secretary.

In an interview with the state, Wise denied all allegations of improper behavior.

The state’s decision to discipline Wise was based on the conclusion that his dealings with the woman suffering from the multiple personality disorder were inappropriate.

“Mr. Wise was one of the clinically brightest persons I ever worked with,” Blue said. “He was exceptional at doing treatment. He was very respected by his colleagues.”

Efforts to reach Wise for comment were unsuccessful.

While Wise left the clinic two years ago, Owen V. Barrett, the other primary target of the lawsuit’s allegations, remains.

In affidavits yet to be filed in court, current and former employees have made 13 signed statements containing descriptions of incidents involving Barrett’s codeine use, sexual harassment and more, according to the state investigation.

The clinic hired Barrett in 1988 after he claimed he had a master’s degree from Central Washington University. A state records check revealed he had no more than a bachelor’s degree before 1994.

Barrett was promoted to supervisor at the agency in mid-1994, at about the same time he was arrested on July 11, 1994, and charged with domestic violence.

The charge was later dropped.

The state investigation revealed Barrett was suspected of unethical behavior when he resigned from his prior job as a mental health counselor at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital.

At the hospital, he counseled a patient who had troubles with alcohol, records indicate.

The woman told the state the day she was discharged Barrett drove her to his home and had sex with her. She said they both drank whiskey during the ride. At the time, she was 20, Barrett was 33. That relationship culminated in a brief marriage and divorce.

She told the state Barrett was abusive to her. She claimed he once put a loaded handgun to her head and pulled the trigger in an act of Russian Roulette.

Barrett calls the allegations lies and irrelevant to his work for the county.

Barrett later was criticized by employees for allegedly having intimate relations with a subordinate, then treating her unfairly when the relationship broke off.

The state disciplined Barrett for misrepresenting his education, and having improper relations with a former patient and a subordinate.

Barrett said he has made some mistakes in the past, but that he has put it behind him. He also disputes allegations about his abusive behavior in the lawsuit.

“I know a lot of these things are absolute fabrications,” he said.

Barrett said he is tired of the allegations from the current and former employees, and welcomes a chance to confront them in court.

“If they truly believe they’ve been discriminated against or sexually harassed, take it to court.”

Blue said Barrett, like Wise, is unfairly maligned.

“Mr. Barrett is also an excellent clinician,” he said. “He’s a very knowledgable therapist.”

Blue said he has seen nothing in Barrett’s behavior to question his ability to continue to supervise staff.

However, he said, he thought the state’s disciplinary action against Barrett, was appropriate.

, DataTimes