BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Western Washington University (WWU) has been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars months after a jury found them guilty in retaliating against a whistleblower.
Court documents state Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Evan Jones ordered WWU to pay $656,240 to the whistleblower Antonia Allen to cover her legal fees. $323,414 comes from Allen’s attorney John Sheridan’s staffing and hourly rates, with an additional $40,125 in costs.
Jones also granted Sheridan’s claim for Blaney damages, which refers to the Blaney v. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers decision in Washington Supreme Court. Blaney essentially allows for prevailing plaintiffs in discrimination cases against employers to seek “liberally construed” legal fee coverage. In this case, Judge Jones awarded $292,701 in Blaney damages to Allen.
Allen is a former Director of the Internal Auditor’s office for the university that was fired in what the May 2024 decision called a “retaliatory action.”
According to Allen, her job was to “provide independent, objective assurance” to help improve and protect the university when she was hired in 2017.
In late 2018, Allen launched an investigation into so-called “ghost courses” that Woodring College of Education offered in order to allow more students to qualify for full financial aid. As a result of her refusing to remove the term “financial fraud” from her report to the Dept. of Education, she was fired in the fall of 2019.
She filed a lawsuit against the university in 2020 and won, getting approximately $3 million in both back pay and emotional harm damages.
