Redmond Fire Chief paid 95k to resign, told to keep quiet about Covid outbreak

Two weeks after KUOW published a story about a small coronavirus outbreak among Redmond fire command staff, the fire chief was ousted.

At about this same time the city hired a consultant to the tune of nearly $50,000 to find out who leaked information to KUOW. The consultant never did find out who turned over that information.

As its neighboring city of Kirkland was in the throes of the first reported Covid outbreak in the U.S., Redmond Mayor Angela Birney told the city’s fire chief he would be fired because she wasn't happy with his job performance.

Fire Chief Tommy Smith had been part of the city’s coronavirus response leadership team – and had tested positive for the virus himself, along with four others on the fire department’s command staff.

Smith learned he would lose his job 13 days after KUOW reported that city officials had told Smith and the other members of command staff to stay mum about their positive status.

Ultimately Smith put in his resignation notice, as required by a severance agreement between Smith and the City of Redmond. The contract required that Smith not disparage any city employees or representatives. In return, Smith was given a lump sum payment of $95,778, six months of pay, upon his leaving.

The city announced Smith’s departure on June 23, as the number of daily confirmed coronavirus cases in King County began to rebound after dropping off over the prior weeks. Records obtained by KUOW shed light on why the fire chief of nearly seven years left.

KUOW learned from people close to the situation that Maxine Whattam, Redmond’s chief operating officer, had told the fire chief and others not to share their positive status.

Whattam, through a spokesperson, told KUOW in April that she was not aware of the two command staff personnel who said they were told not to circulate their positive coronavirus status. The spokesperson said the city, at that time, was only aware of one employee who caught the coronavirus.

Redmond contracted with Jayne Freeman, an outside investigator, to look into Redmond’s response to Covid, but more specifically to look into the transition of Covid response leadership, if employees were told not to share their positive coronavirus status, and who leaked the names of command staff infected with Covid to the media. Freeman never did find out who shared these names with KUOW.

Freeman is a lawyer who defends and advises government agencies and employers on employment and personnel issues, but also conducts workplace investigations on employment matters, according to her biography listed online. The city settled on a contract of $49,999.99. One cent more and the contract would have required approval from the Redmond City Council.

Freeman interviewed four of the five fire command staff who were confirmed to have Covid, according to records.

The investigation found that Chief Smith, listed as “employee 1” in the findings report, called Whattam after his coronavirus diagnoses and was told something along the lines of “just hold on for now” when he asked if he should share his diagnosis with others. This was based on an employee listening in on the phone call.

Smith declined to be interviewed by the outside investigator, who concluded there wasn’t evidence of Whattam, the chief operating officer, giving “a directive to employees never to disclose information about their own medical information after they tested positive for COVID-19.”

Mayor Birney said in a conversation with Smith, two weeks after the KUOW story ran, that she had “lost confidence in his ability to perform his job and that he would be terminated from employment," according to records.

Smith was offered a severance agreement but chose not to sign at first because “he believed and continues to believe that his termination from employment violates his rights,” according to a letter to city leaders from his attorney, Jeffrey L. Needle.

As settlement discussions continued, the city’s human resources director told Smith by email that he was to keep these talks to himself, and that any interaction with City Council had to include the mayor. If he was contacted by a council member he had to “immediately notify the mayor.”

On May 29, Mayor Birney again “made it explicitly clear that she was dissatisfied with his performance, did not want him to return to work, and that he would be terminated from employment," according to the letter written by Needle. A new severance agreement was sent to Smith.

“Mr. Smith refused to sign the first severance agreement because he believed that his termination from employment is wrongful and in violation of his rights. The second severance agreement is no better. Mr. Smith’s termination from employment violates Mr. Smith’s First Amendment rights and violates a clear mandate of public policy,” Needle wrote.

An agreement between the parties was eventually reached. Both the city and Smith would keep quiet about the arrangement, and agreed on the messaging of Smith’s departure that would be sent out in a press release.

Smith did not return multiple requests for comment. Mayor Birney, through a spokesperson, directed this reporter to the press release online.

Meanwhile, acting interim Fire Chief Don Horton resigned to take a permanent role as fire chief near Atlanta, Georgia. As of Aug. 13, the mayor had not yet decided who would be the interim fire chief.