A Washington state arbitrator has ruled that West Richland wrongly fired Sgt. Athena Clark, ordering the city to pay her 19 months of back wages, benefits and interest after finding that two internal investigations into her conduct were "flawed and biased."
Public Employment Relations Commission arbitrator Susan Bauman issued the decision after eight days of testimony that included review of numerous exhibits and several videos, according to the Tri-City Herald. Bauman found the investigations the city relied on to terminate Clark didn't meet the legal standard required to justify her firing.
The exact dollar figure the city owes hasn't been finalized. City officials are still working out how much Clark, a 25-year law enforcement veteran who once served as a commander in the department, is owed, her attorney Dan Thennell told the Herald.
Clark joined West Richland police in 2019 after earlier stints with the Oregon State Patrol and Richland police. Her promotion came under then-Chief Thomas Grego, whose tenure became the center of sustained internal conflict within the department.
A department in turmoil
Clark became a central figure in that conflict after she alleged Grego pressured her to drink and became visibly drunk during two work conferences. "When I confronted him about his behavior not being a good representation of the City of West Richland, he lied stating he was not drunk," Clark said in a written statement obtained by the Herald, via AOL.
Clark said she decided to speak out "after being personally retaliated against and witnessing Chief Grego's unethical, dishonest, tyrannical, bullying, retaliatory abusive behaviors that created a very hostile work environment," according to the same statement.
The complaints helped fuel multiple "no confidence" votes against Grego by the West Richland Police Officers Association in 2024. A later investigation by Kjersten Turpen and Heather Fossity of the law firm Ogletree Deakins found that most allegations against Grego lacked sufficient evidence — but concluded that one of Clark's complaints, alleging mistreatment tied to a medical condition, had merit, the Herald reported.
Clark and another officer central to the complaints, Roman Siepert, both said afterward that they faced retaliation for coming forward. Grego ultimately retired amid the investigations and no-confidence votes, with no clear succession plan in place at the time, according to the Herald. The city named Steven Crown interim police chief in March 2025, Tri-Cities Business News reported. It's not yet clear whether a permanent chief has since been appointed.
A budget already under strain
The back-pay order lands on a city that's already stretched thin. West Richland, home to roughly 16,000 residents, has been studying new tax options after a council workshop this spring found the city's budget gap widening, according to meeting summaries tracked by citizenportal.ai. The city is also asking voters to weigh in on a $12.5 million police station bond, per Tri-Cities Business News.
Any settlement with Clark, whether paid from the general fund, reserves or insurance, will add another line item to a budget council members are already trying to balance through new revenue or cuts.
Several questions remain open. The city hasn't disclosed the final back-pay total, whether it plans to appeal the PERC ruling, or whether Clark has been or will be reinstated and in what capacity. It's also unclear what policy changes, if any, followed the Ogletree Deakins findings. Further filings with PERC or city council budget documents are likely to answer some of those questions in the coming months.
