SEATTLE — Negotiations have broken down between former Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz and the City of Seattle to come to a settlement agreement stemming from a $10 million tort claim Diaz filed in October.
On Wednesday, Diaz filed a lawsuit against the city for a slew of allegations including wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation and defamation.
According to the complaint, statements made by the city, including Mayor Bruce Harrell, about Diaz being a dishonest cop who had an inappropriate romantic relationship with a subordinate “are false and exposed Chief Diaz to contempt, ridicule, and deprived him of the benefit of public confidence.”
The complaint also alleges “the city’s retaliatory and discriminatory conduct … destroyed Chief Diaz’s 27-year law enforcement career, ruined his name and professional reputation, and ended his ability to obtain commensurate employment ever again.”
Diaz was fired by Mayor Harrell on Dec. 17, 2024. The mayor accused him of having an affair with Jamie Tompkins, his former chief-of-staff, and lying about it.
“While honesty and integrity are fundamentally important characteristics for all City employees, it is even more critical that SPD officers are truthful. Stated more simply, if you lie, you cannot serve the community as a law enforcement officer,” Harrell wrote at the time in a letter to city and SPD officials.
Mayor's Office responds
On Wednesday the Mayor's Office took the unusual step of providing KING with a statement in response to an inquiry about the lawsuit.
"We don't typically comment on active litigation; however, in this case we will say: When all we had was rumor and innuendo regarding Adrian Diaz, we took him at his word. After we received the facts from an independent investigation, he was terminated for dishonesty. We are confident that the fact finding allowed by the litigation process will demonstrate the truth," wrote the mayor's Director of Communication Jamie Housen.
Diaz says he had 'no other choice'
In a statement Wednesday, Diaz said city leaders left him no option, but to file the lawsuit.
“While City leaders unfairly accused me of dishonesty and unprofessional conduct, there is critical evidence disproving those allegations that the City intentionally overlooked, minimized, and ignored," wrote Diaz.
He continued, "Additionally, I voluntarily took a polygraph test that confirmed the truthfulness of my statements during the investigation, and a handwriting expert has discredited the so-called key evidence the City purportedly relied upon in terminating my employment. The Mayor and City leaders have unfortunately left me with no other choice than to seek justice through legal action,."
Legal actions stack up
This is the latest in a long list of legal actions against the city by current and former members of the Seattle Police Department in the last three years.
Those include a $3 million demand letter issued by the former chief-of-staff, Jamie Tompkins, earlier this month for allegedly being a victim of sexual harassment by officers, managers and the mayor. In February, Lt. John O’Neil, a 20-year veteran of the force, filed a lawsuit against the city saying he’d been discriminated and retaliated against by command staff.
Last year, four women sued the city saying they were sexually harassed by Chief Diaz and other top brass at the department. In 2023, well-known veteran Detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin filed a lawsuit claiming she was forced to endure racism and a hostile work environment at SPD in her 40-plus year career there.
The Diaz lawsuit paints a picture of top city leaders – Mayor Harrell and Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess – frustrated with a police chief who refused to bend to their unethical demands. And that they conducted a “rushed” investigation into the alleged affair between Diaz and Tompkins to manufacture a way to get rid of him.
“The Mayor’s Office [became] frustrated with Chief Diaz’s refusal to commit unlawful acts and contravene a clear mandate of public policy by sweeping potentially politically challenging issues for the Mayor’s Office under the rug,” wrote Diaz’s attorney Jacob Downs in the complaint. “The termination was the intended result of a campaign by members of the Mayor’s Office to remove Chief Diaz based on his refusal to simply do as they commanded, even when those commands were to perform unlawful acts.”
The lawsuit points to one pivotal event that put Diaz in hot water with the mayor.
In 2023, officer Dan Auderer was heard on his body camera joking about the death of a young woman. There was international outcry over the event.
According to the complaint, Mayor Harrel pushed Diaz to fire the officer but the chief wouldn’t do it, saying the officer was entitled to due process and that it was an “unlawful directive” from the mayor. The complaint says Diaz’s refusal led to retaliatory acts by city officials.