Sara's Discrimination Lawsuit Battle

I'm Verna Perso, I'm starting this to help my friend Sara with legal expenses for her discrimination lawsuit. She is fighting an uphill battle against someone extremely familiar with the legal system.

Plaintiff- Sara Hutchinson

Defendant- Ed Putka

Case # 2120093208 in Cowlitz County WA

LAWSUIT- Discrimination under Revised Code of Washington 49.60

Summary of events and court results.

Plaintiff is Sara Hutchinson. She is a single mom, disabled veteran and the owner of a small business in massage therapy. She is a credentialed Massage therapist who graduated from Ashmead college and started her practice in 2008. She made the mistake of not renewing her massage license, yet 4 weeks after the Application was opened it had been reinstated and she is currently practicing. She had the opportunity to buy her dream home in the town she has grown up in and is raising her son there too.

Defendant is Ed Putka. He was Sara's commercial space landlord and he was the seller of the house that she purchased. He is also a semi-retired attorney and judge.

July 8th 2021, One week before closing on the house purchase Ed found out about Sara's expired license and confronted her about it. Sara agreed she wouldn't work until her license was reinstated and immediately put in her application and payment to fix what she messed up.

The following day Sara met with Ed to apologize to him. He asked her why she didn't take care of her license and she told him that she had a disability with depression, anxiety and PTSD and she struggles taking care of things. Ed went on to question Sara's finances. During these questions Ed learned of her VA compensation benefits and the VA loan not requiring a down payment. Ed became disgusted with Sara and very angry that he put money in the house for repairs. He made the statement "What are you going to tell the papers when they call you" Sara said she hoped they wouldn't find out about her license.

The next day Ed asked to meet with Sara. He told her we (him and his wife) didn't want to sell the house to her and said it was because they don't trust her and don't want to be neighbors. He stated "We are willing to allow you to stay in the building and work with you until you get your license, if you back out of the house sale" he also said he wouldn't talk bad about her. He stated we wanted an answer by 1:00 that same day.

A few days later....after Sara scrambled to get a lawyer to protect her contract she was in with the house sale...Ed called her and again tried to get her to back out of the house sale. She told him what he was doing wasn't ok. That he was holding something over her head to get her to do something else. Ed stated "You know the state can take comments and how would they like to find out you've been practicing so long without a license" Sara told him she was a good person and made a mistake and she's doing everything she can to fix it.

The emotional stress was so extreme over the 6day period. Sara had a mental breakdown after the last conversation she had with Ed. She was hospitalized and released to a safe place with her mother.

Ed signed the real estate contract yet followed through with each statement made. He reported her to the state, he evicted her from the commercial space, he contacted the newspaper multiple times to have an article written about her and he attended a public gathering and spoke bad of Sara. He also took her to small claims court.

Dec 22, 2021 Sara filed this lawsuit against Ed Putka. Every Superior Court Judge in Cowlitz County recused themselves from the lawsuit. An out of county judge took on the lawsuit. Ed filed a motion for sanctions against Sara and her lawyer which were denied in April 2022. Sara was awarded a discovery Protection Order in October 2022. Ed's reason for opposing the protection order was that it would restrict his freedom of speech, he believed if he found anything in the discovery (her medical records and finances) that made her unfit for office that the public would have the right to know if she ran for office.

December 19, 2022 at Summary Judgement, Ed had again filed sanctions against Sara and her lawyer and the judge again denied sanctions. The judge ruled in Sara's favor and the discrimination cause of action is to be decided at Trial.

Reason for asking for help.

Sara has tried so hard to stand her ground and fight against what was done wrong to her. Having a lawsuit of this magnitude is very expensive and Sara has tried to cover the costs mostly on her own and can only immediately move to trial after she has funds. Any help will be appreciated beyond imagination. She should have never had to endure the believed discrimination and emotional distress brought on her.

Thank you for any help that you can provide.