Last year Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department public health director Chantell Harmon Reed came under fire from three employee unions that alleged bullying, unethical behavior and creating a toxic work environment.
Following an outside investigation ordered by the Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health in February 2025 and completed June 18, 2025, Reed was not found to have violated any laws or health department policies and was not disciplined. She was ordered to receive executive coaching services by the Board of Health on July 2, 2025.
The News Tribune requested information about the investigation into Reed on July 15, including a copy of the final investigative report and related records. For more than eight months, the health department refused to make the investigator’s findings public, citing “attorney-client privilege.” On Feb. 4, The News Tribune’s lawyer sent a letter to TPCHD arguing the records should be released under the Public Records Act, as “they clearly relate to the conduct of a governmental or proprietary function” and involve an investigation of “the agency Director for allegations about on-the-job actions.” Likewise, TPCHD paid for the investigation and “relied upon the report in its determinations made regarding the allegations,” wrote attorney Michele Earl-Hubbard…