S-1540

AN ACT Relating to whistleblowers; adding a new section to chapter 42.40 RCW; and making appropriations.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 42.40 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The director of the department of personnel shall establish a rotational registry system to appoint and monitor advocates for those whistleblowers who allege retaliation under RCW 42.40.050.

(2) Advocates shall be limited to representation of the whistleblower under RCW 49.60.230 and 49.60.240, including the conference and conciliation stage under RCW 49.60.240. The advocate shall provide the commission all documents and records, and shall cooperate with the commission in its function as representative of the whistleblower. If the parties proceed under RCW 49.60.250, the whistleblower may retain independent counsel at his or her expense. The whistleblower retaliation advocate shall not accept private employment by the whistleblower under RCW 49.60.250.

(3) The advocate's appointment by the department of personnel shall be pursuant to a contract of employment awarded and administered by the department of personnel.

(4) To be eligible for placement in the registry, a person must:

(a) Be admitted to the practice of law in the state of Washington;

(b) Be engaged in private practice;

(c) Not have provided legal representation for the alleged retaliating agency for the five years previous to the date on which his or her appointment to the case would occur; and

(d) Be able to demonstrate that he or she has completed training in arbitration or mediation.

The director may establish additional criteria.

(5) Eligibility for a whistleblower to receive appointment of an advocate on his or her behalf shall be determined by the department of personnel and shall be limited to those whistleblowers whose income is less than two hundred percent of the federal poverty level for a person whose family size is the same as the whistleblower.

Whistleblowers who are unemployed at the time they request appointment of an advocate under this chapter are eligible to receive appointment of an advocate until such time as they obtain employment at a level of compensation that would disqualify them from eligibility under this section.

(6) The rotational registry system shall list advocates in the order in which they are established as being qualified by the department of personnel for listing on the registry. A whistleblower who wishes to be represented by an advocate shall apply to the department. The first three names on the list shall be given to the whistleblower and the whistleblower shall select his or her representative from among those three, however, if none of the first three choices is acceptable to the whistleblower then the next three names shall be given to the whistleblower from which to make his or her choice. If the whistleblower rejects the names from the second list, he or she shall accept the next name on the list or seek alternative representation at his or her own expense. The name of any advocate who either serves or is rejected is placed, in order, on the bottom of the list.

(7) The amount of compensation for the advocate shall be calculated at the rate of one hundred dollars per hour. The maximum compensation for an advocate shall not exceed five thousand dollars for each case to which the advocate is assigned. The whistleblower shall pay twenty percent of this compensation. This shall constitute the sole and entire compensation of the advocate. Costs for all office, clerical, and other support services required by the advocate shall be borne by the advocate.

The department of personnel shall monitor compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract. The department of personnel shall terminate any contract when the department determines that the advocate has failed substantially to comply with the terms and conditions of the contract. The whistleblower may terminate the services of the advocate at any time for any cause. If the whistleblower terminates the services of the advocate, the whistleblower shall accept the next name on the list at the time of the termination or seek alternative representation at his or her own expense. The secretary shall review all terminations at the end of each year to determine whether an advocate has failed substantially to comply with terms of his or her contracts. Any advocate who is found to have failed substantially to comply shall be removed from the registry by the director.

(8) The registry is established January 1, 2000, and may be used for any case open at the time of its creation. The director of personnel shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

(9) The department of personnel shall report to the governor, the legislature, and the human rights commission in January of every odd-numbered year. This report shall include but not be limited to statistics on the use of the registry, costs to the state, results of cases that received appointment of an advocate, time expended between the filing of a complaint with the human rights commission and the conclusion of the complaint, and any other matter of interest or use to the governor or legislature.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The sum of . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, from the general fund to the department of personnel for the purposes of section 1 of this act.

(2) The sum of . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, from the general fund to the department of personnel for the purposes of section 1 of this act.