KUOW73%
Seattle pays $2.6 million to settle sexual harassment lawsuit against former police chief 32%
By Liz Brazile0%
6/5/2026, 3:57:46 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 18 faulty reasoning types, including Availability Heuristic, Confirmation Bias, and Framing Effect, with Anecdotal as the most egregious example at 39.8% saturation with 154 hits. Analysis detected 908 faulty-reasoning hits from 387 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 40.7% and a BS Rank of 32% (15,087 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 68.90% of the article peer group.
The city of Seattle has paid $2.6 million to settle a 2024 lawsuit brought by four female police officers who accused Seattle Police Department leaders of sexual harassment.
The four plaintiffs had sought $5 million, alleging they'd been the targets of sexually harassing or discriminatory behavior by former police Chief Adrian Diaz, former Assistant Chief Dan Nelson, and current Lt.
John O’Neil.
According to a tort filed in 2024, Diaz had appeared to show interest in Officer Valerie Carson, beckoning her for long chats at the end of her work shift in public affairs.
“Chief Diaz’s practice became a running joke amongst his security detail, because they could not leave either,” wrote Sumeer Singla, an attorney representing the women.
Diaz also commented on Carson’s dresses and high heels, according to the tort, and asked her to drive alone with him on New Year’s Eve 2020, making Carson uncomfortable.
The tort also included stories from Officers Kame Spencer and Jean Gulpan, who say they were sexually harassed by their supervisor at the time, then-Sgt.
John O’Neil.
The two had previously filed complaints against O’Neil, who'd headed the department's public affairs unit and was one of Diaz’s trusted advisors.
The tort claimed that O’Neil "began to make physical advances toward Ms.
Spencer" and "would put his arms around her and touch her in a way that made her feel physically uncomfortable.”
A fourth woman, Lt.
Lauren Truscott, had alleged that O’Neil had harassed women, and that Diaz had enabled him.
In response to the allegations, Ted Buck, Diaz’s personal attorney, said in a statement to KUOW in 2024 that the claims against Diaz were false.
The 2024 lawsuit also came on the heels of KUOW's conversations with 10 women, all current and former cops at Seattle Police Department, who spoke out about what they called “a good old boys club” at the department, one they described as rife with sexism, harassment, and favoritism.
“We are happy to see the City of Seattle take accountability for what was a clear lapse in leadership by the previous administration," Singla said in a statement announcing the recent settlement.
"We hope new leadership will improve working conditions for everyone within the Seattle Police Department."
Ashley Hiruko contributed to this report.
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100%flagged-word coverageSumeer Singla
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