The verdict is a black mark on police chief Kathleen OTooles record.
The verdict is a black mark on police chief Kathleen O'Toole's record. SPD

Seattlepi.com reports:

Seattle Police Department brass retaliated against a would-be whistleblower and one of her supporters, a King County jury found Monday.

The jury verdict means millions of dollars in payouts to two longtime officers pushed out of the city’s South Precinct. The jury found a third officer had not proven he’d been retaliated against.

Jurors began their deliberations Friday after a two-week trial that saw Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole take the witness stand to defend her management.

In a nutshell, longtime sergeant Ella Elias complained about an overtime "gravy train" assignment given to a select group of officers. A captain, David Proudfoot, supported her. But O'Toole removed Elias and Proudfoot from the South Precinct, claiming they contributed to a poisoned racial atmosphere (the officers on the alleged "gravy train" are African-American friends of former assistant chief Nick Metz, while Ellas and Proudfoot are white).

City Attorney Pete Holmes said this afternoon he's looking to appeal the verdict. "Had Chief O’Toole not addressed the hostile, racially-tainted work environment she encountered," he argued, "the City likely would have been held financially liable."

Mayor Ed Murray called the verdict "disappointing" and backed the chief.

The jury awarded Elias and Proudfoot $1.9 million and $932,000 in damages, respectively. The P-I's Levi Pulkkinen has all the details.