A legal action affecting the American Legion Department of Washington (the “Action”) is pending in Thurston County Superior Court. The court gave preliminary approval to a settlement in this matter. PLAINTIFFS James Robinson, Michael Mattingly and Scott Smith (“Plaintiffs”), derivatively on behalf of American Legion Department of Washington, Inc. (“Department”) object to this settlement. The DEFENDANTS Dale Davis, Ann Bowman, David Hodgeboom, Bob Wallace, Wayne Elston, James Davidson, Kittie Lafazia, Bill Powell, William Schrier, Mike Montaney, Vince Schmitt, Richard Langenbach, Robert Schwartz, Jake Cabaug, Jim Broe, Tom Conner, and Loren Sperry (“Defendants”) support the settlement. The settlement is for $400,000 (the “Proposed Settlement”). Of that sum, $100,000 is proposed as an attorney fee and cost award to the Plaintiffs, and the remainder as damages for the loss, which will be paid to the Department of Washington, not to the Plaintiffs.

The Action alleges that unauthorized funds of not less than $416,000 were distributed as salaries and/or bonuses to employees of the Department between 2010 and 2017. If the Proposed Settlement is approved by the Court, it will resolve the Action and all claims therein.

A hearing (the “Settlement Hearing”) will be held at 9:00 a.m. on September 20, 2024, or at such other time as may be directed by the Court, before Hon. Carol Murphy at Thurston County Superior Court, 2000 Lakeridge Drive S.W., Building 2, Olympia, WA 98502.  The Settlement Hearing will determine whether:

(a) the Proposed total Settlement of $400,000 should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate, and is in the best interests of the American Legion and its members;
(b) the proposed settlement was made in good faith and without fraud or collusion;
(c) an Attorney Fee of $100,000 should be paid out of the Proposed Settlement;
(d) any objections to the Proposed Settlement, Attorney Fee and Expense Award.

All documents pertaining to this action are a matter of public record and can be obtained through the Thurston County Clerk’s Office pursuant to their fee schedule at the requestor’s cost. [https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/departments/county-clerk]

Each current member of the Department of Washington is entitled to provide input. You may submit your input in one of three formats: on the form below, by email, or by US Mail. All submissions should include your Legion Member ID # (as shown on your membership card) as part of the submission.

Emails should be submitted to website@walegion.org with the words “Proposed Settlement” in the subject line.

Paper submissions by US Mail should be sent to:

Department of Washington
c/o Barbara Lombrano
PO Box 3917
Lacey, WA 98509-3917

The deadline for receipt of your comments is August 30, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.