Ex-Seattle officials say OIG botched Chief Diaz, Jamie Tompkins affair probe
The Brief
Two former Seattle officials, including Jamie Tompkins, claim the Office of Inspector General mishandled its investigation into rumors of her affair with ex-Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz.
Tompkins alleges misconduct by a key witness: Officer Tay Gray-McVey, who she says sexually harassed her and had a conflict of interest in the case.
A whistleblower lawsuit from a former OIG records manager claims the office illegally leaked investigative records to the media and retaliated when she raised concerns.
SEATTLE - Two former Seattle city officials claim the Office of Inspector General mishandled its investigation of rumors that former Seattle police Chief Adrian Diaz was sleeping with his Chief of Staff, Jamie Tompkins.
One of those officials is Tompkins herself, who's now questioning the credibility of a key OIG witness: Officer Tay Gray-McVey, Diaz's driver on the security detail.
FOX 13 Seattle compared the report on the OIG's findings with interview transcripts and police emails in determining Gray-McVey's central role in the investigation.
Mayor Bruce Harrell cited Gray-McVey's statements in a letter he wrote to the Seattle City Council informing them of his decision to fire Diaz in December 2024.
"I further identify additional established facts that I rely upon: Diaz directly described to a member of his Executive Protection Unit [Gray-McVey] that he was having a romantic relationship with [Tompkins]."
What they're saying
In the OIG report, Gray-McVey told investigator Shayda Le that Diaz engaged him in salacious conversations about Tompkins, with graphic details of the sex they had together.
Le's report also showed that Gray-McVey was one of the first police officers to know about the romantic birthday card addressed to Diaz; the card that suggested he was having an affair.
The OIG report says Gray-McVey's partner on the security team found the card in one of Diaz's official vehicles and shared the contents with him, and the two officers discussed what to do with it.
The handwriting expert who declared Tompkins wrote the birthday card used one sample of penmanship in particular to confirm the match: JT-K-1, a handwritten note Gray-McVey claimed Tompkins gave him, "Thank-you for saving the day! Per usual [signed] Jamie."
Tompkins, however, said a new handwriting analysis proves a different Jamie wrote that note and the birthday card, and she's shocked that anyone would believe she'd write a thank-you note to Gray-McVey, the man who she says regularly engaged in sexually aggressive behavior toward her.
Click to open this PDF in a new window.
Tompkins documented his alleged misconduct in emails she sent to SPD, the city of Seattle and even OIG.
"He would say that he could track me by my scent. He told me that he would track my coming and going and where I was in the building over surveillance cameras. He told colleagues he was going to try to get me drunk on a work trip so that he could see if he could sleep with me," Tompkins said in an exclusive interview with FOX 13 Seattle. "It was just really disgusting behavior."
Her allegations against Gray-McVey were also detailed in the letter Tompkins's lawyer sent to the city of Seattle in November 2024, demanding that the government pay her $3 million for the pervasive sexual harassment she suffered in the 18 months she worked at the Seattle Police Department.
Click to open this PDF in a new window.
Given Gray-McVey's importance to the investigation, Tompkins questioned why the OIG investigator didn't note his troubling connection with Tompkins when Le summed up her findings.
"[Gray-McVey] has a massive conflict of interest," Tompkins said.
FOX 13 Seattle offered Gray-McVey multiple opportunities to reply to Tompkins's allegations, but he did not respond to emails and phone calls. Fox 13 Seattle also attempted to contact Investigator Shadya Le, asking her to respond to Tompkins's concerns, but received no response.
On Wednesday, FOX 13 Seattle reached out to SPD for comment, but at the time of publication had not heard back.
Earlier this week, SPD issued a statement to KING-TV about Tompkins's demand letter. It read:
"While the Seattle Police Department does not comment on ongoing or threatened litigation, we would like to restate that we are an inclusive organization and strive to be a safe and welcoming workplace for all our staff."
Mayor Harrell was also asked about Tompkins's lawsuit on Monday and said he couldn't comment on pending litigation.
Dig deeper
Tompkins said Diaz, who is currently negotiating his $10 million wrongful termination lawsuit with the city of Seattle, wants a new criminal investigation into his firing as part of any settlement, something she supports.
"I think the investigators had a preconceived narrative for this all along." Tompkins said. "I mean, it certainly felt coordinated."
On Oct. 28, 2024, Interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr unexpectedly announced she had placed Tompkins and Diaz on administrative leave but did not provide a reason. She said it was a "pending personnel matter" in an email sent to SPD staff.
Two days later, the Seattle Times and KUOW reported that Diaz and Tompkins were suspended for allegedly lying to investigators about their affair, detailed in a new OIG Notice of Investigation; the stories came out approximately 30 minutes apart, and neither reporter revealed their sources.
Click to open this PDF in a new window.
More Details Emerge
Now, a whistleblower lawsuit claims a senior member of the OIG leaked that information to local media.
The claim was filed by Lacey Gray, the OIG's former records manager, who spoke to FOX 13 Seattle about the allegations made in her complaint. She said the release of the Notice of Investigation went around the normal review process.
"This is completely against the norm to release these records the way we did … I think it was done to paint Adrian Diaz in a negative light."
In her lawsuit, Gray claims Inspector General Lisa Judge fired her a few days after she voiced concerns to senior OIG staff that releasing the information had violated employee confidentiality laws.
"In an employee misconduct investigation, you have to provide the employee notice," Gray explained in her interview. "You have to give them the opportunity to request an injunction to say, 'Hey, that should not be released.'"
Gray told FOX 13 Seattle that she believes she's been "blackballed" from working at other local government agencies, so now she must look for work in a different state. Gray said she had a spotless record at OIG and had been praised for her work, before being fired. In her last performance evaluation, on a scale of 1 to 5, she received all 5s. Gray was even promoted to records manager, and her employment agreement with OIG was extended, with a note from Judge that said, "Thank you for your continued contributions."
Gray said in her role, she handled every public record request that came into the office, but not the ones from the reporters asking for the Notice of Investigation accusing Diaz and Tompkins of lying.
According to her lawsuit, Deputy Inspector General Alyssa Perez-Morrison "released [the investigation] records to multiple media members without going through the proper public disclosure process."
Gray said she first found out what happened in a casual-seeming email exchange with Morrison.
"Alyssa emailed back, 'Oh, I already took care of it. I already gave those records to them.' And then I replied back, 'Well, I'm concerned about that.'"
Her lawsuit claims Gray tried to warn senior OIG staff in emails and in conversations that releasing those documents was a violation of disclosure laws. Gray recalled the response from OIG Audit Supervisor Dan Pitts.
"Dan said, 'Well, Lisa [Judge] has clearly reviewed the risk and didn't think it was high.' And I replied back, 'Well, I don't know that she has reviewed the risk because if she did, she would know it was very high.'"
Gray said she kept a paper trail of what was happening because she was worried about her job.
"I actually thought that Lisa was going to blame me for releasing the records, so I really just wanted it documented that I had no part in this decision," Gray said. "But it ended up being that I stepped into something bigger by making an issue about these records being released the way they were."
Click to open this PDF in a new window.
Inspector General Judge fired Gray on Nov. 6.
"Lisa showed up, and then she just got right into it," Gray said. "She said that I had been mentored and trained and guided for the last 6 to 9 months, but it was quite obvious that I had a different philosophy than leadership. And that I was being terminated."
Her lawsuit claims Gray's "concerns about the potential violations of law were (together or individually) a substantial factor in the decision to end her employment."
What's next
Gray is suing for an unspecified amount in personal and professional damages for wrongful termination. Her lawsuit also claims OIG violated Washington's Silenced No More Act, which protects an employee when there's "reasonable belief" that public policy was being protected by her actions.
Her tort claim originally sought $5 million dollars for her losses and legal fees.
Gray filed her lawsuit Wednesday in King County Superior Court, and a response will be due from the city soon. The case is scheduled to go to trial May 11, 2026.
FOX 13 Seattle repeatedly contacted OIG and emailed Lisa Judge directly seeking a response to Gray's allegations. However, no messages were returned.
Gray wants the city to audit OIG, including how it handled the allegations against Diaz and Tompkins.
"I know the employees at OIG, and they're good, and they care, and they're hard-working, and they're scared. They're scared they're going to lose their job like I did," Gray said. "I think an investigation could get them talking. I would support it. I would be happy to participate in it. 'I mean, I definitely would know where records are to assist any investigation.'"
The Source
Information in this story came from an interview with former Seattle Police Department Chief of Staff Jamie Tompkins, reports from the Seattle Office of the Inspector General, lawsuits filed with the city of Seattle and Superior Court of Washington and FOX 13 Seattle original reporting.
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