A former Seattle police officer files a $20 million claim against the city

A former Seattle police officer who was fired after making insensitive comments on camera about a woman who was fatally struck by a police car said in a $20 million claim against the city that he was wrongfully terminated.

Daniel Auderer said in the claim that the Seattle Police Department leaked false information about his disciplinary proceedings and released personal information, including his home address.

The department fired Auderer last month after his body camera recorded him laughing and saying the life of 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula, who was killed by a police cruiser on Jan. 23, 2023, while crossing the street, had “limited value.”

“The department then wrongfully terminated me,” Auderer, the former vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, said in the July 25 claim for damages. “This was retaliatory at least due to my union leadership."

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Auderer declined to comment, as did the city attorney's office. Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr did not respond to requests for comment.

But in an email to the full department last week she wrote that the "officer’s laughter and callous comments about the ‘limited value’ of Ms. Kandula’s life displayed a cruel mockery of the sanctity of her life.”

Rahr went on to call the behavior a betrayal of a "sacred trust."

"Not only did his comments irrevocably break the public’s trust in the officer, individually, but they caused extreme damage to the public’s trust of the entire Seattle Police Department," she wrote.

The lawsuit is the latest stain for a department seemingly in turmoil.

In June, former Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz, who was sued and accused by four female officers of discrimination, harassment and maintaining a hostile work environment, said the allegations against him were false and disclosed publicly for the first time that he is gay.

Further, two Seattle police officers are under investigation after a bystander recorded them beating a man with their batons at a bus stop two months ago.

Auderer made the remarks as he was responding to a call about the marked patrol car striking Kandula.

His comments could be heard in body camera footage that was released in September.