Port of Kingston ordered to pay $166K in public records lawsuit
PORT ORCHARD – A Kitsap County judge has ordered the Port of Kingston to pay out roughly $166,000 to a former Kingston business owner.
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Bassett ruled Friday afternoon that the port owes Beth Brewster about $75,000 in penalties and about $91,000 in legal fees and other costs resulting from her public records lawsuit.
Brewster said in a statement Friday that she was pleased with the court for recognizing that the port “repeatedly violated the Public Records Act by withholding information from me,” and said she was weighing her options for any additional legal action.
Brewster has been involved in legal disputes with the port dating back to 2014. Friday’s case addressed 12 records requests Brewster filed in 2014 and 2015 for a separate federal lawsuit against the port, which alleged that she was being treated unfairly by the port because she was a woman and that the port representatives retaliated against her because she had been critical of it. She dropped the federal suit in 2015.
Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/local/2017/02/10/port-kingston-ordered-pay-166k-public-records-lawsuit/97765588/