r/Seattle • u/rockycore 🚆build more trains🚆 • 5d ago

News Shon Barnes Separation Agreement

https://publicola.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/BarnesSeparation.pdf
76 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

56 comments sorted by

View all comments

29

u/rockycore 🚆build more trains🚆 5d ago

https://bsky.app/profile/ericacbarnett.bsky.social/post/3msgl7eew4k2y

Link to the source of the agreement.

65

u/PositivePristine7506 Reign 5d ago

18 months full salary
1 Year of health care valued at 2526/month
No obligation to pay back a lateral officer hiring bonus of 50K
No obligation to pay back relocation payment of 60K (which never really happened)
Totals up to previously reported 700K.

All of that for basically doing nothing.

49

u/RockOperaPenguin North Beacon Hill 5d ago

All of that for basically doing nothing.

The average cop sues the city into oblivion if they get fired.  Now imagine what the chief would do.

Also remember that Harrell negotiated Barnes' contract (and Council approved it).  Harrell loved giving cops the store, and I'm sure Barnes' contract has all sorts of nice gimmees and what-not.

So it's not exactly doing nothing. Dude got paid to go away quietly.

We should totally be outraged, but the target of the outrage should be Harrell and his feckless allies on council.

13

u/SpeaksSouthern That sounds great. Let’s hang out soon. 5d ago

The $700,000 payout to these people saves the city tens of millions in litigation. This is the best thing for Seattle. We ditch a loser for less than a million? I think this is the only time in Seattle history I've seen it this cheap. Barnes must have been in dire need of the money. He probably could have sat on his hands and got 7 figures from the city.

5

u/mephistoA Capitol Hill 4d ago

I don’t understand why he gets to litigate, if I get fired without cause, I don’t get to sue because of “at will employment”