The Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) will investigate Chief Presiding Officer Patricia Peterson for “alleged misconduct.” Petersen previously filed a complaint against Chief Deputy Jim Odiorne for improperly attempting to influence her decisions as the agency’s administrative law judge. According to The Seattle Times, the OIC “seeks to discover whether Petersen herself improperly sent an anonymous copy of her complaint to a lawyer for Seattle Children’s hospital, one of the parties in a contested case that was before her.”
Additionally, the OIC said it will “hire an outside reviewer to investigate that issue and also whether Petersen’s allegations of improper contact” by Odiorne are true “or if she misrepresented what occurred.”
As SHIFT previously reported, Petersen alleged that Odiorne instructed her to meet with Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler and when she received a case, “find out how the Commissioner wants the case decided, and decide the case the way the commissioner wants.”
Seattle Children’s Hospital received a copy of Petersen’s complaint from an anonymous source soon after.
Peterson was removed from her cases and was placed on paid leave a day after she filed her whistle-blower complaint.
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