A 96-page report by a workplace investigator who looked into allegations made by Marie Shimada, now an Island County commissioner candidate, after she was fired from the Edmonds Community College Foundation in 2019 is making waves on Whidbey Island.

The in-depth investigation tells a complex story of workplace dysfunction centering on Shimada, a Democratic candidate for District 1, and her boss at the foundation. The report was done by Deborah Diamond, a well-known investigator and mediator who has been hired in several high-profile cases of public workplace discrimination and harassment in the state.

While Diamond’s report concludes that Shimada was fired from her job as major gifts officer because she wasn’t doing the work in the way she was told, it also finds she made a sincere effort to do so in a different manner. In addition, it concluded that her boss, Brad Thomas, then-executive director of the foundation, created liability for the college because of his perceived conduct toward women and attitude about equity issues.

The report calls into question Shimada’s allegations against the president of the college, whom she accused of mismanagement and misuse of funds.

Shimada said she didn’t do anything wrong and has put the episode behind her, although she maintains the real reason she was fired was for whistleblowing.

“My brand is that I stick up for myself and other people,” she said.

Others, however, see parallels between Shimada’s actions at the college and her time as the manager of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve on Central Whidbey. Shimada dramatically quit the position earlier this month amid allegations that she fomented divisiveness; after she was hired in 2022, nine members of the volunteer Trust Board quit.

On the other hand, Shimada warned in her resignation speech that members of one family in the Reserve were the ones causing strife and trying to control the Trust Board.

David Adams, a South Whidbey resident who helped found the GOP of Island County, first obtained the Edmonds College investigation earlier this year and wrote about it on the Facebook page for the group on July 8. He points out that Shimada was fired after serving only four months for not performing the main function of her position, which was to call a certain number of assigned donors each week.

As Adams pointed out, she alleged that Thomas treated her differently and harassed her based on her race, sex and age. Shimada is a woman of color.

Adams’ statement that Shimada’s allegations were proven to be false, however, was not entirely accurate.

The report concludes that while Shimada did not meet the expectations for her job, she did make efforts to obtain donations through messaging and other, more modern communication methods.

In addition, the report concludes that the college and foundation were, more likely than not, missing opportunities for donations because of Thomas’ conduct.

“Mr. Thomas’ perceived behavior toward women and perceived attitude toward racial/social equity issues expose the Edmonds Community College and Foundation to potential liability for discrimination and/or harassment claims,” the report states.

The report includes lengthy summaries of interviews with Thomas, other staff members and the president of the college, who called for the investigation. While some staff members backed Shimada’s concerns about her boss, they described her as going door to door in the office, encouraging criticism of Thomas. The report described how she wanted to change the title of her position; when her boss told her no, she went ahead and had her own nameplate made.

Witnesses interviewed in the report described Shimada’s allegations about the president of the college as inaccurate. In her complaints, Shimada accused the president of the college of bragging about having a forged birth certificate; the president and the woman who told Shimada the story said she got it wrong.

In addition, Shimada learned from a third-hand source that the college president had been seen at dinner during an out-of-state conference with a woman who was not his wife. Shimada concluded that he have been having an affair and, therefore, misusing college resources. The president, however, explained that he was on a bus tour with a colleague — president of another college — and they had dinner before heading back to the conference.

This week, descriptions and discussions of the investigative report circulated widely around Whidbey Island. Marilyn Sherman Clay, the president of Friends of Ebey’s, the fundraising arm of the Trust Board, sent out a message to dozens of people detailing her “sincere concern” about Shimada as a candidate for commissioner.

“Her behavior there mirrored her behavior here, as the Reserve Manager of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve in several ways,” Sherman Clay wrote. “Her unproven and hurtful accusations toward others for her own gain, including accusation toward the president of the college of the ‘mishandling of public funds’ (which necessitated this investigation), her unwillingness to perform the actual duties of her position, while creating unrelated, alternative jobs for herself.”

Shimada, on the other hand, blames Sherman Clay for making the report into a campaign issue. Shimada is facing incumbent Commissioner Melanie Bacon, a Democrat, as well as Republicans Steven Myres and Wanda Grone in the upcoming primary. Sherman Clay has supported Bacon.

Shimada claims that Sherman Clay has been “obsessed” with criticizing her to people in the community and even coerced people into taking down her campaign signs. Shimada said she sent a cease-and-desist order to Sherman Clay in an effort to prevent her from saying things about her. At a Trust Board meeting, Shimada said she wanted a no-contact order against Sherman Clay and others. In addition, Shimada sent a letter to the National Park Service that outlines her concerns about Sherman Clay, as well as Coupeville Mayor Molly Hughes and two Trust Board members.

“She’s a woman who hates me and spends a lot of time on that,” Shimada said of Sherman Clay.

The News-Times was unable to contact Thomas for comment. While his LinkedIn profile shows that he still works at the college’s foundation, he’s not on the list of staff members.

Correction: Friend’s of Ebey’s Reserve is the fundraising arm of the Trust Board. The story inaccurately describes it as the funding arm.