Human Rights Commission helps people be what they want to be

Andreta Armstrong considers her role as executive director of the Washington State Human Rights Commission in Olympia as a "divine appointment."

As such, she seeks to take the commission—with offices in Olympia, Spokane, Wenatchee, Yakima and Seattle—to another level so employees, employers, and people in communities can be what they want to be.

"We are in place as partners so people can feel they receive justice," she said in a recent interview.

If someone believes they have been mistreated in employment, housing or accommodations because they are in a legally protected category—race, national origin, gender, disability or sexual orientation—they may bring a complaint to the Human Rights Commission.

In 1965 when she was seven, her parents moved with their four children from Mobile, Ala., which she described as "the belly of the beast," to Tacoma, where she grew up.

"In Alabama, my parents were not able to go to college so they could be what they wanted for themselves and their children," she said.

Her father had been told by white Air Force soldiers to come to Tacoma, which was not only a beautiful place to live but also a place where his family would find opportunity.

After her parents earned college degrees, her father was a school teacher and her mother directed a federal program.

Andreta earned a bachelor's degree in radio/TV communications at the University of Washington in 1980 on a four-year scholarship. At 17, she had applied for the scholarship saying she planned to become an attorney to "save the world."

To be true to her word, she went to the University of Puget Sound Law School in Tacoma and graduated in 1983.

"I cut my teeth in civil rights in the 1990s in the Washington State Human Rights Commission and I have been an investigator, a mediator, the director of the civil rights unit in Tacoma for seven years and the executive director, leading the agency for the past two years," Andreta said.

"I like to think life chose me to be in Washington and to work in civil rights as a way to make this world better and to hold true to what I said I wanted to do when I was 17," she continued. "I believe I'm in the right place to do the right thing with the right people."

Andreta works with 27 employees in Olympia, three in Seattle, five in Spokane, one in Wenatchee and one in Yakima. They are responsible for investigation, mediation, customer service, administration, IT, policy analysis and operations.

Jim Owens leads fair housing, with an office in Spokane, Andreta added.

Luc Jasmin Jr of Spokane is a member of the Washington State Human Rights Commission, one of the five commissioners from around the state.

Jerry Lee, operations manager in Seattle, Barbara Harris, assistant director in Olympia, and Andreta visited Spokane in the summer to meet with local business leaders, housing owners and public accommodations leaders—possible respondents—as well as with those in agencies assisting people who could be complainants.

"We shared the services we have to offer," she said.

"We complete about 350 employment, housing and public accommodation cases each year in the whole state, resolving them through negotiated settlement after completing an investigation to determine whether there was discrimination," Andreta said.

Some cases are administratively closed if a party files a civil lawsuit or is not interested in going forward.

"We are responsible for enforcing the state antidiscrimination laws to have a positive effect on people's lives through investigation and outreach that informs people what actions violate those laws," she said. "Our mission is to prevent and eliminate discrimination by enforcing the state antidiscrimination law RCW 49.60.

"Our work is to prevent misconduct by outreach to communities," she said.

"People who seek us out are often in crisis. It's satisfying to know we enforce laws that help people who are at their wits' end, believing they are discriminated against," she explained. "We want to help everyone, but only have authority to enforce the anti-discrimination laws. Not all bad behavior in the workplace is covered, but we are glad we can help some."

Andreta's desire to help people stems from her own experience and that of her parents coming to the Pacific Northwest to be all they could be. They found an opportunity here to make things better for themselves, unlike what they had experienced in the South.

Her interactions with people who treat her as if she is less than they are drives her to assist others who feel they are wronged because they are in a protected category.

"As a person of faith, I live by the tenets of loving all and embedding love where I see it needed and to spark love where I do not see it so folks can be all they can be and want to be," she said.

The commission deals with some complaints against employers when someone in the workplace uses disparaging comments or epithets related to race or gender. Some have felt they had no other recourse, because the employer was aware but did nothing. In some cases, there is evidence to support the complaint, but if there is no evidence to support the case, it is hard.

"We have to be neutral because the complaint has to be supported by documentation," she said.

In investigating a charge, the commission has a process to determine if the proposed disposition is supported by evidence. The managers for housing and employment cases are involved in the review and recommendations. Based on their findings, the commissioners are responsible for deciding to close a case.

Luc is one of five commissioners who meet to decide to close cases.

Andreta is pleased that in the Washington State Human Rights Commission she is able to help people who feel they do not have a voice to be heard, to assist housing providers and employers who feel they have been wrongfully accused, and to support people on both sides of an issue.

Seattle and Spokane deal predominantly with cases of race, national origin and disability, while in Central Washington there are more cases related to farm workers.

"The agency is made up of people who are hopeful. When my staff engages with folks who make inquiries about behavior they have experienced, for the staff to unravel the knots, they have to be hopeful and believe the struggles are getting better and will get better, and they will be able to have an impact," Andreta said.

To foster that sense of hopefulness is, to her, important for her employees' health, so she encourages them to participate in support programs and gives them recognition for milestones in their personal and professional lives.

For information, email andreta.armstrong@hum.wa.gov.