TACOMA (LN) — U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright on Wednesday denied a motion for judgment on the pleadings in a civil rights lawsuit brought by current and former Pierce County Sheriff’s Office investigators who allege prosecutors retaliated against them for supporting a rival candidate in the 2020 sheriff’s election.
The ruling allows the case to proceed against former Chief Felony Deputy Prosecuting Attorney James Schacht and former Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Fred Wist. The Ninth Circuit previously reversed a lower court’s dismissal of the claims, instructing the district court to determine whether the prosecutors were entitled to qualified immunity for the three specific acts.
Cartwright concluded that the plaintiffs, who worked in the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit, plausibly alleged that the prosecutors violated their First Amendment rights. The court found the timing of the prosecutors’ actions plausibly supported an inference of retaliation for the plaintiffs’ support of Cynthia Fajardo, who ran against the incumbent sheriff’s preferred candidate.
The plaintiffs allege Schacht and Wist spread a “false narrative” that the investigators were corrupt, leading to an FBI referral, an outside investigation by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, and negative media coverage in The News Tribune. The plaintiffs claim these actions resulted of their unit, lost earnings, and reputational harm.
Cartwright noted that the prosecutors’ conduct fell outside the scope of absolute prosecutorial immunity because it involved administrative and investigative actions rather than core prosecutorial functions. The court found that existing Ninth Circuit precedent, specifically Greisen v. Hanken, would place the prosecutors on notice that a campaign of harassment involving defamatory communications and spurious investigations violated clearly established law.
The judge also granted the plaintiffs’ motion to amend their complaint in part, allowing them to add factual allegations supporting the surviving claims against Schacht and Wist. However, Cartwright barred the plaintiffs from reinstating claims against Pierce County and former Sheriff Paul Pastor, which had been affirmed on appeal.
The case stems from a contentious period in Pierce County law enforcement, where Fajardo, a former union president who had successfully sued Pastor for gender discrimination, challenged the status quo in the 2020 election. The plaintiffs, who supported Fajardo, allege the prosecutors targeted them for their political activity and objections to prosecutor interference in their investigations.
Schacht and Wist must now answer the amended complaint, which limits the litigation to the Section 1983 claims against the two prosecutors. The parties are directed to file a joint status report by May 20, 2026, proposing a new trial date and case schedule.