State pays $1.8M to Spokane chaplain who says he was smeared and demoted after being deployed

When he left for the last deployment of his 30-year military career in 2018, Robert Kinnune remembers staff being grateful for his work as the chaplain for Eastern State Hospital.

His record was “stellar,” court documents backing up that he had no disciplinary actions, complaints or documented performance issues. His boss even noted that Kinnune’s “presence, dedication, knowledge and world experience is the reason that ESH Spiritual Care Services is highly regarded and well respected by patients, employees and community members.”

So when he returned from his post in Colorado in 2020, he wasn’t expecting to be called in to a “cold” meeting with his superiors, pressuring him to sign rehiring paperwork for what he believed to be a different – and lower status – position.

After a five-year legal battle, Kinnune received a $1.8 million settlement from Washington state for lawsuits alleging discrimination and intentionally withheld public records following his two-year military deployment.

The lawsuits allege that when Kinnune was deployed for his military duty, hospital management staff and the interim chaplain conspired to create a “hostile work environment” on his return, mishandled an investigation into his complaint and proceeded to conceal evidence of the conspiracy in a public records request.

Department of Social and Health Services’ spokeswoman Norah West said in an email that the recently reached settlement “resolves the cases, and does not confirm or suggest any liability, wrongdoing or unlawful action” by the state.

Kinnune, who now serves as the lead Spokane County Sheriff’s Office chaplain, worked as chaplain at the Eastern State Hospital beginning in 2016. At the time, he was also a chaplain in the U.S. Army and a volunteer chaplain for the sheriff’s office.

In 2018, Kinnune was sent on a military deployment to Colorado that, after multiple extensions, concluded in 2020. An intern of his at the hospital, April Ross, was assigned interim chaplain in his absence, and per federal law, Kinnune was to return to the position he had left behind when he returned.

Months into his deployment, though, court documents state that Ross wrote and presented a six-page letter accusing Kinnune of “potentially” raping and sexually assaulting patients, bullying, misogyny and discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals. There are no records that suggest Ross or managing staff at Eastern State Hospital reported this alleged conduct to law enforcement, despite their statuses as mandatory reporters.

Following Ross’s letter, she, Kinnune’s supervisor Barbara “Joey” Frost, former Eastern State Hospital CEO Mark Kettner and other management staff emailed one another about a “plan” for Kinnune’s return to the company, court documents said. Part of this plan involved Frost soliciting information from colleagues to paint Kinnune in a negative light.

When he returned to Eastern State Hospital, Kinnune alleged in court documents that while his pay and benefits remained the same, his job description underwent a substantial change. Under new guidelines, he was kept in a subordinate position to his once-intern Ross, received increased supervision and lost his leadership roles in two work groups. Ross maintained her position.

Kinnune said that he had no idea about the misconduct allegations or meetings that occurred while he was gone. He did not find out about them until later, when his lawyer, James Beck with Beck Chase Gillman, requested public records concerning his employment. Beck warned him that certain pages “were pretty ugly.”

“I was shocked. Disgusted,” Kinnune said of seeing the records. “Patient safety, to me, is extremely important. If anyone had those allegations against them, they should have opened an investigation.”

Before having seen the records, though, Kinnune requested leave to serve as chaplain for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office in 2020. He told Eastern State Hospital’s investigation manager Matthew McCord that he believed Ross and Frost had spread “disparaging remarks” about him during his leave and that he had experienced a hostile work environment at the hospital since his return, per court documents.

McCord looked into Kinnune’s claim and reported in court documents that multiple staff members – including Ross, Frost and CEO Kettner – withheld pertinent information during their conversations. Among the withheld information was Ross’s six-page accusation letter and the email chain discussing the “plan” for Kinnune’s return to the company, McCord said. Had he known about those items, he would have opened an official investigation into the workplace treatment of Kinnune, he wrote.

Kettner has since resigned as CEO following the 2021 stabbing of an Eastern State Hospital staffer and her 5-year-old daughter by another staffer. An investigation following the incident, which resulted in the death of the mother, Kassie Dewey, showed that Eastern State Hospital mishandled domestic violence allegations against Joshua Phillips.

In 2021, Kinnune declined to return to Eastern State Hospital from his position at the sheriff’s office, citing a belief that his rights had been violated, in court documents.

It was then that Beck requested Department of Social and Health Services records containing mentions of Kinnune. Years later, Kinnune alleged that the returned records deliberately left out the same management correspondences withheld from McCord’s initial inquiry, prompting a second lawsuit.

While Beck said that the settlement amount for the discrimination case and the public records case was “some matter of justice,” he ultimately believes “no amount of money can adequately restore somebody’s good name after being treated like this.”

State department spokeswoman West said that Ross is no longer an employee at the hospital. Frost remains on staff.

Kinnune said he is hopeful that his work at Eastern State will continue to have a positive impact on the ministry, and that his story might remind younger military members of their employment rights.

“Our military members should never have to fight a second battle at home simply for answering the call to serve,” he said in a written statement. “My hope is that this outcome strengthens compliance, fosters respect for the law, and sends a clear message that Washington State will stand behind those who defend our freedoms.”

Reporter Amanda Sullender contributed to this article.