Gay Officer Sues SPD, Alleges His Complaint Of Bias Was Ignored

Another complaint against the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has caught the attention of a citizen-review panel, this one filed by a gay officer who alleges he was a victim of discrimination, wrongful termination and a conflict of interest by the department's Internal Investigations Section (IIS).

Dan Mathewson, a seven-year SPD veteran now working for the Redmond Police Department, believes a complaint he filed against another Seattle police officer was quashed after that officer was transferred into IIS.

"It was a blatant conflict of interest," said Jason Grover, Mathewson's attorney. "How could he ever expect justice after that happened?"

The case is among several that have come to the attention of the citizen-review panel, which was appointed by Mayor Paul Schell to look into the way the Police Department handles complaints of police misconduct.

Mathewson's allegation against IIS is among broader allegations brought by Mathewson in a federal lawsuit. He alleges he was singled out for criticism by his superiors, including Police Chief Norm Stamper, for being a gay officer working in the city's Capitol Hill district, which has a large homosexual population.

Mathewson's attorney will begin taking sworn depositions from department officials this month. His lawsuit is set for trial in January.

Mathewson, consistently rated above average by his supervisors, quit the department in 1997, saying his health was giving way to the stress of a hostile work environment.

When he had a change of heart and tried to rescind his resignation a few months later, a move he said is routinely approved, the department refused to reinstate him. That amounted to a wrongful discharge, according to his lawsuit.

The city, in its answer to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, denied all of Mathewson's claims and filed a counterclaim, alleging Mathewson's lawsuit is frivolous.

Mathewson said his troubles began in 1993, shortly after he began disclosing to his colleagues and family that he was gay.

He said that, in 1994, two other officers began spreading rumors about him, most dealing with allegations that he used excessive force during arrests and falsified reports and testimony - conduct Mathewson has denied.

Mathewson went to IIS and filed a complaint saying Sgt. Robin Clark and another officer were spreading false rumors about him.

While that complaint was pending, Clark was promoted into the eight-person IIS bureau. Six months later, Mathewson said his complaint was determined to be unfounded.

Clark did not return a telephone message seeking comment.

Then-Capt. Clark Kimerer, who promoted Clark into IIS, said "firewalls" exist between IIS investigators to keep them from handling cases that might pose a conflict of interest.

He said he was aware of Mathewson's complaint against Clark, and because of it, "explicitly ordered that those firewalls be built."

Grover, Mathewson's attorney, is skeptical. He wonders how officers working in the same small bureau - IIS consists of six investigators, a lieutenant and a captain - could be expected to investigate one of their own.

"How could it even appear to be objective?" he asked. "She's right there in IIS, side by side with the people who are investigating her.

"It's a conflict of interest on its face," he said.

Besides Stamper, Mathewson's lawsuit names as a defendant former Lt. Jim Pugel, who Mathewson said began trying to pull him out of the Capitol Hill district shortly after learning he was gay.

Mathewson said Pugel "remarked that it was `inappropriate, especially for you, to be spending so much time in the gay bars on Capitol Hill.' "

Pugel, now the captain commanding the department's West Precinct, said he could not comment because of the pending litigation.

The city's answer to the lawsuit denies Mathewson's allegations of discrimination by Pugel.

Stamper, the lawsuit alleges, took a personal interest in torpedoing Mathewson's career. At one point, the chief personally ordered an administrative review of his file - an action most often reserved for IIS.

Such reviews generally are ordered when the administration becomes concerned over a pattern of conduct displayed by the officer.

Mathewson said Stamper also voiced the opinion that it was "inappropriate" for him to be working on Capitol Hill.

The chief said he was aware that there was a pending complaint against Sgt. Clark when she transferred into IIS.

"One thing that does happen in this business sometimes is that people get complaints lodged against them," he said. "In this case, that was a consideration."

Schell appointed the citizen-review panel in May after revelations that eight Seattle police officers, including an IIS sergeant, failed to report allegations that a homicide detective stole $10,000 from a dead man's belongings in 1996.

Among other cases brought to the panel's attention are the department's handling of a 1997 complaint by a KOMO-TV reporter who said a police lieutenant told her boss she was gay after she aired a story about the department, and a former officer's allegations that he was pressured to lie in an internal investigation into the alleged beating of a teenager in custody.

Mike Carter's phone message number is 206-464-3706. His e-mail address is mcarter@seattletimes.com