Employees May Sue Investigating Officers, USCA9th

Six former employees of a company investigated by Washington state law enforcement officers may sue the officers for allegedly holding them incommunicado and threatening them with further detention in order to gain their cooperation, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. In Ganwich vs. Knapp (No. 01-35677, 2/11/03), the owner of Ear-Tec, which contracted with the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries to provide hearing aids to injured workers under the state workers' compensation system, was convicted two years ago of theft, conspiracy, and lying to a state agency fo...