The City of Federal Way, alongside the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, paid out a total of $500,000 to settle a lawsuit where a police academy student accused a Federal Way Police Department officer, who was instructing, of sexual harassment during the academy.

According to court documents, the lawsuit alleges that FWPD Officer Richard Klein sexually harassed a student while he was an instructor in the basic law enforcement academy. The lawsuit alleges that while Kaitilyn Ricksecker was a student in the basic law enforcement academy from Aug. 2022 to Nov. 2022, on two occasions, Klein touched her inappropriately and on the second occasion made inappropriate comments about her body. Ricksecker now works for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the lawsuit filed by Ricksecker on April 26, 2024, the first incident was during a training exercise where Klein used Ricksecker as an example of how to search people.

“Stating to the recruit class: ‘let me show you how to how you search, I worked in Las Vegas, let me show you how to search Hoes and Hookers,’” the lawsuit alleges. “Defendant Klein then using a baton, touched Ms. Ricksecker’s breasts. He ran the baton over each breast including the nipple. Jiggled each breast up and down. Then repeated his actions.”

According to the lawsuit, Klein then grabbed Ricksecker’s buttocks, and he told the class that “this is how you search a hoe and hooker.”

According to the lawsuit, during another training exercise, Ricksecker was the driver of a vehicle, and Klein told her to get out of the car. The lawsuit alleges that Klein then made Ricksecker turn around while he made comments about her body and then manipulated parts of her body with a baton.

According to the lawsuit, Klein then did the same thing with another student. Additionally, the lawsuit states that Klein routinely called her “Ricksucker,” instead of her name, Ricksecker.

“The culture in the Academy was bigoted and toxic. The trainees were expected to shut our mouths and move through it,” Ricksecker said in a press release. “We all deserve much better from the institution that is responsible for setting professional standards in the training of new recruits.”

According to the Federal Way Communications Manager Ben Miller, the city strongly disputes both that the allegations raised in the lawsuit occurred, as well as the characterization of the claims in a press release issued by Ricksecker’s attorney. Miller said the city and the FWPD continue to support and stand by Klein.

“Officer Rick Klein remains employed with the Federal Way Police Department (FWPD),” Miller said. “He is the kind of officer you want patrolling your neighborhood, and he has a very low rate of citizen complaints.”

Miller said the FWPD trains all of its officers on topics such as cultural competency, racial, sexual and religious harassment, ethics, and a variety of other topics. Miller said the training is ongoing, but the training doesn’t stand alone. He said that in recruiting and hiring, FWPD’s supervision and the department’s culture foster expectations that all employees act appropriately with colleagues and the public.

Miller said of the $500,000 paid out to Ricksecker, $200,000 came from the city’s insurer, and the remainder was paid by the state for the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission’s portion.

Despite Klein remaining an officer, according to the training commission’s communication manager David Quinlan, they began the formal process to decertify Klein, which, if completed, would mean he can no longer serve as a peace or corrections officer in Washington state. According to the WSCTJC decertification database, the process to decertify him began in December 2022. Quinlan said the process has taken a while to complete because the administrative law judge granted multiple continuances based on hearing panelists and administrative law judge availability.

“The Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and is committed to upholding the highest standards of professionalism in law enforcement training,” Quinlan said. “While we cannot comment on the details of resolved or pending litigation, we can confirm that CJTC has initiated proceedings to revoke the peace officer certification of Richard Klein.”

Regarding whether a settlement is an admission of guilt, an attorney from the team of attorneys representing Ricksecker from the Stritmatter law firm, Debbie Silberman, said that in the eyes of the defendants, it is not an admission of guilt, but for them, it signifies an acknowledgement of wrongdoing. According to a Super Lawyers article from March 2025, a settlement is not an admission of guilt from the defendant, and a defendant may choose to settle despite believing they would prevail in a lawsuit, as litigating can be expensive, time-consuming and risky.

Officer Kaitlyn Ricksecker. Courtesy photo.