Teresa Levine wins case against North Shore Utility District

A jury awarded a former Northshore Utility District employee more than $3 million this month in her gender discrimination and retaliation case.

Teresa Levine filed a lawsuit against the utility and its former general manager Al Nelson in King County Superior Court in March 2023 after she was passed over for a promotion as the district’s finance director, despite positive performance reviews and the recommendation of a hiring committee which included the outgoing director.

Levine in an interview last week said the jury verdict was “overwhelming.”

“I do this for all the women out there working,” Levine said. “There has to be a point where you start to stand up and you realize you’re not the only person going through this. I think it gives credibility to other people who feel the same way in the workplace.”

In an emailed statement, the district’s current general manager Amanda Campbell said, “The District respects the jury process and is beginning to evaluate its options from here. We do not have further comment at this time.”

The district — a water and sewer utility which serves more than 85,000 people in North King County, including the city of Kenmore and parts of Bothell, Lake Forest Park, Kirkland and Woodinville — was ordered by the jury on Dec. 13 to pay $2.5 million in emotional harm damages, about $91,000 in past economic damages and nearly $427,000 in future economic damages.

Levine joined the utility district in November 2019 after being recruited by the then-finance director Steve Hamilton, who said he was retiring soon and that Levine would likely succeed him. At the time, Levine had worked for the city of Kirkland for 18 years, including 10 years as accounting manager.

Levine supervised the day-to-day work of seven finance employees, and received positive performance reviews, including from Nelson, the general manager.

But Nelson’s attitude toward Levine shifted in spring 2021, she said, after she opposed his attempt to discriminate against two lesbian employees who wore more stereotypically masculine clothing, including pants and button-down shirts.

“That was very odd,” Levine said, “to be sitting in my office with the general manager and have him tell me that I needed to talk to my employees about the way they dressed, and to tell him that they’re not dressing any differently than the men in the office and they’re not outside of policy.”

Nelson started to treat her poorly after that, Levine said, keeping his distance, excluding her from meetings and generally treating her coldly or with disdain.

Levine applied for the financial director job in August 2021 after Hamilton announced his retirement. The four-person hiring committee, which included Hamilton, recommended her as the best candidate.

But Nelson rejected her candidacy, saying she wasn’t “tough enough” against her staff, Levine said in her lawsuit. In their interview meeting, Nelson cited her refusal to enforce his discriminatory dress code policy against the two employees.

He also cited Levine’s refusal to discipline an employee for occasionally missing work. That staff member, Levine pointed out, had a reasonable accommodation agreement from the district to care for her husband who was undergoing cancer treatment.

“I was in shock,” Levine said. “I thought, ‘Wow, I have brought so much to the district,’ and I just didn’t understand really what was happening, and it felt wrong.”

Levine’s attorney Beth Bloom said Levine’s experience being described as a “difficult or disagreeable” leader is a classic example of gender bias.

“Women have to lead or they’re not strong leaders, but they also can’t squash other people’s ideas or be mean,” Bloom said. “You have to find this tightrope.”

The following month, Levine’s partner sent a letter to the district’s Board of Commissioners highlighting Nelson’s misconduct, but the board didn’t take action to address the discrimination complaint, Bloom said.

Levine ultimately resigned from the district in November 2021. She said three less-qualified male candidates were offered the finance director position, which two rejected before the third accepted. It took about six months for the district to permanently fill the job, Levine said.

Nelson resigned from the district in March 2023, the same month the lawsuit was filed. He was dismissed as a defendant in the lawsuit before the case went to trial.

In a statement, Nelson said “it’s disappointing the hear that a jury reached this result,” noting he “hired a number of women into leadership positions during my tenure at Northshore.”

“It is difficult to hear people apparently attribute thoughts and intentions to business decisions I made in the role of GM that I did not express or embrace,” he stated. “I tried to make decisions I thought were in the best interest of the District.”

Levine and Bloom said that often people in the workplace, particularly women, experience discrimination but can’t pursue accountability for fear of risking their job or their financial security.

“The hope is that learning about someone like Teresa Levine (and) her story will inspire other women to stand up and to say enough,” Bloom said. “We want to have women have the same opportunities to be judged on their merit and their qualifications as is so often given to men without a second thought.”