Wenatchee Lawsuit Against Drug & Alcohol Dependency Clinic

I got permission from a plaintiff to write some of the details of his story about an ongoing 7-8 year lawsuit against the Drug & Alcohol Dependency Clinic in Wenatchee.

This man went to rebab to correct a dependency issue and had some explicit photos, polaroids, of him and his wife in his private belongings. These photos were taken by a counselor, or employee, and then shared with several individuals in town.

The plaintiff went in, vulnerable, trusting people would help him with an admitted problem and in response, this trust was violated. He said to me, "Yeah, I really appreciated the help with my addiction, but..."

He wrote them a letter, 7 years ago, which he says he would like to share with me to add to my blog. He said it wasn't even the actual deed that was as bad as the cover-up. He said, "They've spent 7 years and $80,000 on defending themselves when if they'd just apologized it would have cost them less." Now he's suing for an undisclosed amount and it's going to jury trial.

I asked how he found out this was going on. He said his wife was working at a place and a coworker came on and said she looked familiar.

It wasn't very long before she realized why.

I said, "It was really good of her to tell your wife what she knew." This man, the plaintiff, nodded, and yet, it is an awful thing to know your private photos have been shared with so many people in town, some random woman who worked with his wife recognized her. It was soon discovered where they came from.

Hmmm. How does one stay sober after something like that?

Perhaps the right to punitive damages should be restored to the legal system in the State of Washington.