A lawsuit was filed Monday against the Office of the Attorney General for withholding documents in response to a public records request and violating the state’s Public Records Act.
The lawsuit filed Monday noted that while the AG’s office is legally obligated to represent state agencies, three private law firms were instead hired to defend the Department of Children, Youth and Families in Le’taxione v. State of Washington, DCYF et al.The plaintiff in the larger case alleging civil rights violations has been unsuccessful through public records requests in seeking contracts and communications regarding the other law firms.
Plaintiff Le’taxione first filed a public records request with the AG’s office in May pertaining to the relationship between the AG’s office and the three law firms, but to date the office has not provided sufficient contracts or communications pursuant to the request. Some documents have been released according to the lawsuit, but key records have still not been provided.
DCYF and caseworkers for the agency have illegally prevented Le’taxione from visitation with his daughter, the lawsuit noted.
“DCYF colluded with, and used, the Office of the Attorney General to submit false documents to the Court, prevent visits and cover up for DCYF’s illegal, racist treatment of Le’taxione,” the lawsuit claims. “This alarmed the Spokane County Superior Court, which questioned ‘whether or not virtually any of the information [provided by the AG’s Office] can be trusted.’”
The attorney representing Le’taxione, David P. Moody, said in an email to Cascade PBS that his client is entitled to the readily available public records from the AG’s office, “but all we get are stall tactics and excuses.”
“We have seen this time and time again from this Office of the Attorney General,” Moody added.
The AG’s office said they could not comment on the lawsuit until they had time to review the case. Spokeswoman Brionna Aho said the office hadn’t been served as of Monday afternoon. She said the office relies on outside attorneys for a variety of reasons, including a lack of capacity, a need for particular expertise, or to avoid a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict.
As the lawsuit noted, discovery sanctions have previously been imposed against the AG’s office in several other cases, including a 2014 lawsuit in which the office was sanctioned for more than $107,000 for withholding documents; a 2016 lawsuit in which the office was sanctioned for failure to preserve documents related to the Oso landslide; and most recently a 2023 lawsuit in which a King County judge sanctioned the office for the “cavalier” withholding of thousands of discovery documents in a lawsuit against a developmentally disabled woman.
The PRA lawsuit, filed Monday in Spokane, is asking for a judge’s order to produce all records requested by the plaintiff and for statutory penalties against the AG’s office, plus attorney’s fees and fines.
