Accusation: Seattle assistant police chief kept friends on overtime ‘gravy train’ Lawsuit filed by SPD sergeant who lost squad after complaining of preferential treatment

Seattle Police Department Sgt. Ella Elias claims this sign was posted next to her locker by a subordinate upset that she raised concerns about overtime allocations. Photo provided as part of Elias' lawsuit. Seattle Police Department Sgt. Ella Elias claims this sign was posted next to her locker by a subordinate upset that she raised concerns about overtime allocations. Photo provided as part of Elias' lawsuit. Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Accusation: Seattle assistant police chief kept friends on overtime ‘gravy train’ 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

A veteran Seattle Police Department patrol sergeant has sued the department, claiming she was retaliated against for pointing out abuses by an assistant chief.

One of the department’s few female patrol sergeants, Ella Elias, claims she was pushed out of command after complaining that Assistant Chief Nick Metz was assigning overtime-heavy positions to friends on the force.

Elias claims she was subjected to several unwarranted investigations and lost command of her South Seattle squad after raising concerns that Metz had handpicked four patrol officers for a “nightclub emphasis” duty that saw each paid thousands of dollars in overtime. The nightclub patrol shifts – which net officers more than $1,000 in extra pay each weekend – were opened up to all applicants following Elias’ complaint.

After an exemplary career as the only female patrol sergeant in the department’s South Precinct, Elias was transferred to serve as a fill-in sergeant out of the department’s Belltown office. Her attorney, Julie Kays, said the move, like several investigations launched against her client, was clearly in retaliation for bothering Metz’s buddies.

“To have worked that long for the department in that position, no one can challenge her commitment to the City of Seattle and helping people in our community,” said Kays, an attorney with Connelly Law Offices in Tacoma.

“She should be applauded for that commitment and not retaliated against,” she continued.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Seattle City Attorney's Office said the city is preparing to respond to Elias' claims, which the police department denies.

"We deny the allegations and will vigorously defend the Seattle Police Department," spokeswoman said. "Sergeant Elias was offered the opportunity to participate in an internal investigation of her claims and declined to do so, choosing instead to file a lawsuit seeking several million dollars from the city."

Kays said her client has been under relentless pressure since early 2012, when she pushed Metz’s friends off a “gravy train” assignment. Elias faced embarrassment when she was sent home and placed on leave during an investigation later found to be groundless, Kays told the court. She has since been forced out of her position leading a patrol squad in South Seattle despite a strident appeal by her precinct captain.

In a September email to Metz and the deputy chief’s commander, Capt. David Proudfoot objected to the transfer while describing Elias as one of his “strongest supervisors” and as someone he could “depend on to implement policies and make good decisions.”

“Frankly, we need leaders,” Proudfoot said in the email. “Involuntarily transferring Sgt. Elias will be seen by many as more evidence that success is more about who they associate with than how they perform.”

What impact the matter has had on Metz’s 31-year career with SPD is unclear.

Metz was demoted in November 2013 during a department shakeup led by then-Interim Police Chief Jim Pugel. Pugel, a politically savvy leader in the department who was seen by some as a reformer, was pushed out in March by Mayor Ed Murray; Pugel’s replacement, Harry Bailey, gave Metz his stars back, returning him to his previous rank of assistant chief.

Like Metz, Elias, now 48, has spent her career with the department.

Having joined the SPD 23 years ago after serving in the military, Elias served as a patrol officer before being promoted to sergeant in 2007. In a department comprised largely of men, Elias was already an outlier in the patrol division and doubly so as a sergeant.

City records from 2013 show women account for about 14 percent of the 1,189 sergeants, detectives and commissioned police officers employed by the department. Seventeen of the department’s 144 sergeants are women, leaving women underrepresented in that first link in the chain of command.

The disparity is more pronounced in the patrol division, which Metz currently heads after holding leadership positions across the department. Patrol officers make up the bulk of the department’s commissioned force. Nearly all police are required to serve in patrol for several years before applying for a detective position; many officers make a career in patrol without attempting to move into investigations.

Elias is one of eight female patrol sergeants with SPD, and the sole woman in a patrol sergeant’s position at South Precinct, which includes historically high-crime areas in the Rainier Valley and Beacon Hill. The department’s roster includes 72 male patrol sergeants.

According to the lawsuit, Elias had an exemplary record prior to 2012, when she complained of what she saw as unfair, preferential treatment of several officers close to Metz.

Beginning in late 2011, Seattle police launched an emphasis program aimed at stemming violence in the city’s nightclubs. In South Precinct, the emphasis meant four officers were paid overtime on Friday and Saturday nights to patrol clubs.

Writing the court, Kays said Metz handpicked the officers “for the gravy train of overtime.” Kays described the officers as close friends of Metz who regularly drop the assistant chief’s name around the precinct office.

“When any one of the ‘four officers’ are ordered to do something that they don’t want to do their chronic refrain is: looks like it’s time to ‘get Nick on the phone,’” the former state prosecutor said in the civil complaint. “When Chief Metz arrives at the South Precinct, he immediately seeks out the ‘four officers’ and literally hangs out with them. …

“The message Chief Metz has sent is clear: I’m friends with the ‘four officers’ and they are untouchable.”

By early 2012, Elias learned the overtime opportunity had not been opened to other officers as required by city policy and the officers’ union contract, Kays said in the lawsuit. Elias reported her concerns to her lieutenant and to her captain; as a sergeant, she felt required to do so. She ultimately won out – the nightclub patrol was opened to all the precinct’s officers.

Kays said the officers who’d been enjoying the work then turned on Elias. They refused to recognize her authority, walked out of meetings she was leading and posted a threatening poster near her locker, according to the lawsuit.

The insubordination was supported by some of Elias’ superiors, one of whom filed a complaint against Elias on the officers’ behalf, Kays said in the lawsuit. Elias was sent home from work and placed on leave in an instance Kays described as an “extraordinary break in protocol” that chipped away at the sergeant’s reputation.

Elias was removed from the precinct and lost command of her squad during the six-month investigation into the officers’ complaint. According to the lawsuit, the officers claimed Elias was a racist who created a hostile work environment.

Investigators found the complaint was unfounded and without merit, according to the lawsuit. Elias was reprimanded for cursing inside the precinct; writing the court, Kays described the entire episode as plain retaliation.

“All this harassment and retaliation has occurred because Elias dared to speak up against an unlawful practice,” Kays said in court papers.

Kays said Elias’ managers have been unapologetic, telling her to “suck it up” and accept the difficulties she’s faced since reporting the preferential treatment.

Several more complaints followed, and continue coming to this day. The most recent could see Elias brought before Chief Kathleen O’Toole.

Kays provided a courtesy copy of the lawsuit to the department on Nov. 18. By noon on Nov. 20, Kays said, Elias was being called into a meeting with O’Toole to defend herself against yet another complaint from an officer who’d held the plum nightlife assignment.

Elias was removed from South Precinct in July, after filing notice that she planned to sue. According to the lawsuit, Metz showed up at the precinct office shortly thereafter and went on a “ride-along” with one of the four officers while Elias was on duty. Elias has since been assigned as a fill-in sergeant in West Precinct, which includes downtown Seattle and the surrounding neighborhoods.

An email from Elias’ former supervisor – Proudfoot – to Metz appears to show that Metz ordered Elias be booted from South Precinct over Proudfoot’s objections.

In the Sept. 8 email, Proudfoot said Metz had ordered a lieutenant to transfer Elias. The lieutenant wasn’t comfortable making the transfer, nor was Proudfoot without a direct written order from Metz.

Proudfoot outlined his objections to the transfer, which he said would cause “significant turmoil within the precinct.”

“Sgt. Elias is a strong leader who I know from experience to make good decisions and who lets people know what is expected of them and how to do it,” Proudfoot said in his email to Metz and Deputy Chief Carmen Best, O’Toole’s second-in-command.

Proudfoot went on to argue that punishing Elias would send a poor message to other leaders in the department.

“Many of my supervisors have commented to me that they feel that they are not allowed to lead,” the captain said. “They describe witnessing the undermining of leadership and retaliation against those who have made decisions within the precinct as strong inhibitors to them stepping up to lead now.”

Proudfoot went on to compliment Elias for performing well despite the investigations sparked by the officers’ complaints.

Since being transferred, Elias has been filling in for other sergeants and kept from applying for open positions. Kays said Metz clearly forced Elias’ transfer because of the lawsuit.

Elias is seeking damages for gender-based discrimination and retaliation. The city is expected to formally respond to the lawsuit by late December.

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Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.