Fired school doctor to get $1.5 million as lawsuit against DSHS settled
The out-of-court settlement comes five years after officials at the state-run school in Buckley, Pierce County, said they fired Dr. Tariq Ahmed for being rude and loud. Ahmed, a primary-care physician at the school for mentally disabled adults, said that those charges were made up and that he was really fired for criticizing Rainier's nursing services and emergency care.
"I feel vindicated," Ahmed said yesterday, adding that $1.5 million "is a significant amount of money for the state to pay out. I feel this is an admission of wrongdoing."
A federal jury awarded Ahmed $350,000 in 1998, and, two years later, another jury upped the total to $8 million. But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the award last August.
In April, the 9th Circuit agreed to rehear the case before the full court, which prompted the state to settle.
"We were looking at a hearing before the entire 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, with the likelihood that whoever won that appeal would then appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court," said Gary Larson, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office.
"As a result, we looked hard at the costs of taking a case that far and decided it was in our best interests to settle. But there's nothing in our settlement that says either side changes their stance."
The settlement was reached last week.
There are laws to protect whistle-blowers, but Ahmed's lawsuit was tried as a First Amendment case. Ahmed's lawyers said he had been fired after he exercised his right to free speech.
"When I started at the school, there was a stigma that if you spoke out against anything, you'd get fired," Ahmed said. "I broke that stigma."
"The state was trying to silence the whistle-blower, and that's not right," said Ahmed, who now has a medical practice in Bellevue. "The whistle-blower is the biggest source of intelligence in a democracy.
"I feel it is important for every citizen of this country to come out and say something to protect lives."
Ahmed's attorneys said they were pleased with the settlement but said there was more at stake than money.
"Hopefully," said Richard Wooster, one of Ahmed's attorneys, "this case will provide some protection to other whistle-blowers."
Brian Joseph can be reached at 206-464-2509 or bjoseph@seattletimes.com.