Amelia Clark, who, until this month, was the administrative officer of the Spokane Regional Health District, reached an agreement with the Washington State Board of Health to never again hold the top leadership position at the district.
Clark has already left her role with the health district for a job in another state, and the agreement closes out a state investigation that would have determined whether Clark illegally fired former health officer Dr. Bob Lutz.
Clark and Lutz met on Oct. 29, 2020, when Lutz says Clark immediately fired him without providing a performance improvement plan or other disciplinary action. After the meeting and community backlash, Clark maintained that Lutz had been placed on administrative leave.
However, the Inlander obtained an email showing that the local health board's attorney notified board members on the evening of Oct. 29 to let them know that Clark had terminated Lutz.
Under Washington state law, an administrative officer may not single-handedly fire the health officer. Instead, the local health board needs to hold a hearing, allowing both sides to make their case before the board would vote to terminate the health officer or not.
Spokane's health board did meet a week after that October 2020 conversation between Clark and Lutz, and the board voted to fire Lutz in an 8-4 split. But before that meeting took place, citizens had already filed complaints about Clark's apparent firing of Lutz, asking the state health board to take action.
Clark had been set to go before an administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings in September before the stipulated agreement with the state health board was filed this month. The agreement closed out the case without the judge deciding the legal issues in question, instead noting "respondent will not accept an appointment as the administrative officer" at Spokane Regional Health District in the future.
Clark's time leading the health district saw mass resignations of experienced leaders in the organization, with the pressures of the pandemic and conflicts with management driving many to leave. While a "culture of fear" was already present at the district under prior leaders, many told the Inlander that things got worse under Clark's leadership. In one incident, Clark called the police to investigate who on her staff had recorded a staff meeting, after the Inlander reported on two leaders in the organization getting fired and escorted out of the building in December.
Lutz has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the health district and Clark as an individual. That case, which has been moved to the U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington, could ask a judge to determine whether Lutz was improperly fired. ♦
