Cambria Horne said she learned early in her career at Seattle City Light that speaking up came with consequences.
Horne first went to work for the city utility department in 2005. As an apprentice, she faced repeated pressure to go out drinking with her crew after their shifts. Horne said that one night she told her crew chief she did not want to go, but went anyway after he made a veiled threat about future jobs.
She learned the next day that she had been taken off of overtime — something she had never heard of happening in her then-three years at the agency. A supervisor told her it was up to the crew chief’s discretion.
“It was the first time that I really saw that and realized that opening your mouth means you get retaliated against and nothing is done about it,” Horne told Cascade PBS.
Horne, who helped spark a wide-ranging investigation into a culture of drinking and sexism at Seattle City Light, filed a new lawsuit in federal court late last month, alleging the city outed her as a whistleblower and enabled retaliation over her participation in the investigation. She said she was placed on administrative leave earlier this year.
A Cascade PBS investigation found that Seattle City Light has paid out at least $5 million in settlements over the past several years, including millions to its own employees over alleged discrimination or misconduct.
Horne’s newly filed lawsuit complaint outlines years of on-the-job harassment and dangerous misconduct. The lawsuit also alleges a supervisor raped Horne after a work-organized social event in 2011. She said the city promised to protect her anonymity and career opportunities as part of her cooperation with the investigation.
“The overall consensus that I have felt from the city the whole time is that it’s never been about what’s happened to me or the safety of me or of other women,” Horne said. “It’s always been about how they can protect themselves or how they can use your situation to get where they want to be.”
The Seattle City Attorney’s office declined to comment on ongoing litigation. However, in an email to Cascade PBS, Seattle City Light responded to a request for comment on the allegations in the settlements and any reforms the agency has made in response.
“Seattle City Light is committed to a workplace free of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, and takes all reports of inappropriate behavior seriously,” the agency said in its statement. “This is true of our recently completed … investigation as well as any other workplace misconduct reports, including those that may have resulted in settled claims.”
Millions in settlements
Data obtained in a public records request shows that Seattle City Light settlements have cost taxpayers close to $5.1 million since 2018. At least eight employees filed claims with the city in that time, and all of those employees either settled or went into litigation. For employee claims alone, the city paid out at least $3.5 million. Three other claims from employees settled in 2023 and 2024.
Cascade PBS has a pending request for data detailing any settlements finalized in 2025.
One former employee of Seattle City Light claimed she was wrongfully terminated, alleging her supervisor gave critical feedback only after learning that she was pregnant, according to records obtained by Cascade PBS. She was fired a few months later and told it was because “she was not a good fit.” She settled in 2023 for $60,000.
Another former employee settled in 2024 for $60,000 based on claims of wrongful termination and discrimination based on race and national origin.
Seattle City Light also settled with a former employee who claimed she experienced sexual harassment at work. Although no formal complaint or lawsuit was filed, the city settled for $1 million.
Alongside claims from former employees, many of the claims against Seattle City Light are based on car accidents. Nearly 40% of claims against Seattle City Light since 2018 relate to vehicle accidents caused by employees, costing $870,000.
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Horne’s settlement in 2022 represents the largest payout in the data released to Cascade PBS. While in mediation, Horne disclosed workplace misconduct she experienced or witnessed in the more than 15 years she worked at Seattle City Light, including drinking and intoxication on the job, sharing pornography, sexual harassment and retaliation.
In the wake of those allegations, the city launched an investigation into the workplace culture of Seattle City Light’s Network Group – the division to which Horne belonged. The investigation, published in March of this year, revealed a widespread culture of drinking and sexism.
Horne said she felt the investigation depicted the culture of drinking well, but missed the subtle, more hidden issues. Even then, she said she felt the agency’s response was lacking and inflated for public perception.
“It just felt like a small little smack on the hand,” she said. “It didn’t feel like the punishments were enough to actually change the culture.”
‘Good old boys’ club’
Seattle City Light hired an outside attorney to investigate claims from Horne and others. Investigator Cathryn Dammel spent two years conducting dozens of interviews and reviewing hundreds of pages of documentation before releasing her findings, which implicated 33 employees in workplace misconduct.
“Based upon individualized credibility assessments and a preponderance of evidence, I generally found that partaking in a culture of drinking and sexism was required for entry into the Network’s ‘good old boys’ club,’” she wrote.
She went on to highlight how that culture affected opportunities for those on the job.
“Importantly, if employees resisted or were shunned by the ‘brotherhood,’ there were economic and social consequences,” Dammel wrote. “Witnesses believed, for example, as I do, that certain individuals in the ‘brotherhood’ controlled access to overtime opportunities.”
The findings detail a culture of expected drinking, returning to work intoxicated and pressure for lower-level employees to purchase alcohol. In one example, a manager told a new employee that he expected a bottle of alcohol as a “paperweight” or the paperwork for his evaluation would “fly away.”
Similarly, many of the employees interviewed shared stories of sexism on the job. One employee said she experienced a “forced wet T-shirt contest” when a male co-worker dumped ice water on her. Another described trying to put a manager at “arms-length” by finding physical locations to work that were high enough to escape touching and groping.
Dammel reported interviewing 73 employees, analyzing documents and inspecting physical evidence — including small cups provided to employees for water but that were reported to be used for drinking alcohol on the job.
The investigation identified 33 employees with credible claims against them, with a majority of the allegations substantiated. As a result, Seattle City Light terminated five employees, suspended seven others and issued nine written or verbal warnings. Another dozen employees with “more minor” claims received additional training.
The agency reiterated its commitment to a safe culture in its statement to Cascade PBS.
“City Light leadership is committed to continuously improving our culture so that we represent the values of our customers and the communities we serve,” the statement said. “Our culture will ensure the physical and psychological safety of all City Light employees.”
Seattle City Light has faced similar allegations of sexism and retaliation in the past when a group of female city employees called the Seattle Silence Breakers formed in 2018. Many of the members were working at Seattle City Light, including the group’s founder.
“It’s just like all I can do is shake my head that here we are seven years later still talking about the same thing,” Horne said. “Like nothing’s changed.”
Horne’s fight continues
Horne’s lawsuit asserts that Seattle City Light promised to protect Horne and keep her reports anonymous. However, she later described experiencing repeated retaliation, the lawsuit states, “but Seattle City Light did nothing.”
“What I was afraid would happen 15 years ago, happened anyway,” Horne said, adding that she believes her tenure is one of the only reasons speaking out hasn’t completely ruined her career. “Had I come out when I was an apprentice, I think I would have destroyed my career and I could have easily been another casualty of being runoff.”
She filed a second claim in May 2025 for retaliation and breach of contract. Within minutes, she was placed on administrative leave. The lawsuit argues the allegations triggering her leave, including accusations of sexual harassment, were fabricated as retaliation.
“She brought forward a horrific workplace sexual assault and harassing environment, then was promised by Seattle City Light that it valued her and would protect her but, instead, outed her as the complainant who identified workplace toxicity and its perpetrators,” the lawsuit complaint reads.
For Horne, the settlements and overall treatment from the city – her employer for over 15 years – has left her feeling isolated and used. But, she said, she is “stubborn” about staying at Seattle City Light.
“I don’t understand why, as the victim, I’m the one that has to leave,” she said. “I haven’t done anything wrong, so why should I be the one leaving? I really think that the people that either need to leave or be dealt with are the people that are perpetrating these problems.”
The city has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit with the court. So far, the online federal court system shows no hearings currently scheduled on the case.
