A jury in Baker County awarded $200,000 in damages to a former firefighter. Attorney Richard Myers filed the lawsuit on behalf of Jason Bybee in 2023. Baker City employed Bybee as a firefighter and EMT when he contracted COVID-19 from a work exposure. Bybee developed Long COVID and was unable to return to his firefighter […]
Category: Employment Law
Fred Meyer Employees Bring Class Action Wage Claims
Attorneys with Bennett Hartman filed class action lawsuits in Oregon and Washington on behalf of Fred Meyer employees who have been shorted wages since September 2022. The lawsuits allege that Fred Meyer violated wage statutes by knowingly implementing a faulty payroll system. Fred Meyer admits the new payroll system caused pay errors. However, it had […]
Court of Appeals Prohibits Aiding or Abetting Unlawful Employment Practices
The Oregon Court of Appeals issued an opinion in favor of a Bennett Hartman client that will enhance protections for workers in Oregon. Elisabeth Hernandez suffered a serious workplace injury in 2016. Her employer relied on a Colorado company, Reed Group, to manage the medical leave of its employees. Reed Group claimed to have expertise […]
Fair Dismissal Appeals Board Orders Reinstatement of Teacher
A school district terminated a teacher who had been arrested for being under the influence and possession of a narcotic. That arrest was prominently displayed in the local paper. That teacher had excellent evaluations and there had never been any issues at work related to her substance abuse. While the teacher successfully participated in a […]
Arbitrator Orders Reinstatement of Speech Language Pathologist
In this case, an Educational Service District terminated a well-respected speech language pathologist with no history of discipline for “theft of services.” The dispute arose because the educator often worked away from her assigned work space, which is extremely noisy and distracting. As a professional who had historically travelled from work site to work site, […]
Jurors Award Damages for Whistleblower Retaliation
A 12-person jury in Multnomah County found in favor of a Bennett Hartman client on a claim of whistleblower retaliation. Attorney Talia Stoessel filed the lawsuit on behalf of the worker. She tried the case to a jury with Attorney Richard Myers. After five days of testimony, the jury determined that the worker’s report of […]
Justice for Injured Worker
Attorney Richard Myers successfully represented an injured worker who was denied reemployment. The worker suffered a serious on-the-job injury and filed a workers’ compensation claim. Her claim was denied and the employer refused to restore her employment after she recovered from the injury. Myers represented the worker in a hearing on her workers’ compensation claim. […]
Federal Court Finds School District Violated Teachers’ and Students’ First Amendment Rights
On the eve of a 2012 teacher strike, the Eagle Point School District adopted policies banning all signs and picketing activity on school property. The Eagle Point Education Association promptly notified the District that the policies were unconstitutional but the District refused to modify them. During the strike, the District strictly enforced its new policies […]
Court Approves $2 million Settlement in Class Action Wage Lawsuit
BHMK in collaboration with attorneys from the Oregon Nurses Association successfully settled the class action lawsuit of Thanane v. Providence Health & Services – Oregon. The lawsuit alleged that Providence violated state and federal laws by withholding wages from employees. Specifically, BHMK attorneys argued that Providence managers fraudulently altered employee timecards to avoid payment of […]
Arbitrator Finds Portland School District Violated High School Workload Contract Provisions
Attorney Margaret Olney has represented local associations throughout the state in efforts to protect their members from the constant pressure of being required to do more work for the same pay. Most recently, she won a second arbitration for the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) relating to high school workload. The first arbitration arose in […]