A police accountability bill that will make employers liable for injuries caused by the action of a law enforcement officer is alive and set for a hearing in the House.

HB 1202, sponsored by Reps. My-Linh Thai (D–Bellevue) and Lauren Davis (D–Shoreline), establishes new accountability for law enforcement officers and their employers. Under the bill, if a person is injured by a law enforcement officer acting under the color of law, the injured person has a cause of action against that officer and any other law enforcement officer who could have prevented or aided in preventing the injury yet failed to act. These events could occur if the officer:

• Engaged in conduct that under civil law constitutes an assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, or malicious prosecution;
• Acted in a manner that is unlawful under state constitution; or
• Engaged in conduct that violated the duty of reasonable care.

In these cases, an injured person may also name the officer’s employer as a defendant. Employers will be found liable if:

• The unlawful conduct causing injury was within the scope of the officer’s employment.
• The officer can prove they “substantially complied” with an employer’s practice, policy, or procedure. The employer would be independently liable for the injury if it was caused by the practice, policy, or procedure condoned or approved by the employer.
• The injury was caused due to the employer’s failure to use reasonable care in hiring, training, retaining, supervising, or disciplining the peace officer.

Under the bill, an injured person would be entitled to actual damages, nominal damages and costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. Additionally, the Attorney General could bring action against the employer or officer if there is a pattern or practice of misconduct.

AWC strongly opposes HB 1202. If the bill passes, cities could be named in a claim and would be liable for actual damages, nominal damages and costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees. We believe this bill will incentivize people to file a claim regardless of the merits of a case because of the high likelihood of receiving a monetary settlement. If the bill is enacted, AWC believes cities could see a rise in cases brought against officers and cities, a resulting increase in settlement payments regardless of the merit of the claims, and the possibility of massive attorney’s fees if a case reaches a verdict. It is simply too costly for cities to defend these kinds of cases; cities often end up settling because taking a case to trial and winning can be extremely costly.

AWC thanks Rep. Thai who has been very gracious in reaching out to stakeholders, including cities, to discuss the impacts of the bill and look for ways to reduce our concerns. The bill will have some modifications made in response to stakeholders’ concerns, including a delayed effective date of January 1, 2025; however, there are not enough substantive changes at this point to alleviate our opposition.

Dates to remember

HB 1202 is scheduled for public hearing in the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, January 11 at 10 am.