BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Former Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee’s lawsuit against Boise Police Sgt. Kirk Rush has been dismissed.
In October, Lee and Rush filed dueling lawsuits against one another; Rush’s lawsuit is still pending. Lee was ousted last fall after internal complaints came to light. One complaint was from Rush, who claimed Lee injured him during a briefing. That complaint led to an Idaho State Police investigation and is the subject of Rush’s lawsuit. The police investigation did not lead to any charges being filed.
However, a later investigation into racism within the department revealed that there was an organized campaign to remove Lee, who is Asian American — which was the subject of Lee’s lawsuit.
“We (Rush’s attorneys) notified his (Lee’s) attorney on November 17, 2023 that we intended to file sanctions for filing a frivolous lawsuit,” Attorney Erika Birch said in an email, adding that Lee dismissed the lawsuit days after.
“Mr. Lee's lawsuit should never have been filed against Sgt. Rush and in our view was just another act of aggression and retaliation against Sgt. Rush and an abuse of our court system,” Birch said.
The notice of dismissal said that Lee was dismissing the complaint pursuant to rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure.
That rule states that the plaintiff (in this case Lee) can voluntarily dismiss the complaint by filing a notice of dismissal before the opposing party (Rush) serves an answer or a motion for summary judgment.
Lawyers for Lee did not immediately return requests for comment.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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