This page concentrates on unlawful termination claims and settlements in Oregon. It is unusual for great claims to go to trial, simply because they quite often reach settlement out of the courtroom.
Many of these court cases have mixed settlements, which means that they implicated a single, or possibly several claims of wrongful termination attributable to constructive discharge, firing in violation of public policy, age discrimination, race, color, national origin, religion discrimination, disability, workplace retaliation, whistleblower, sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity discrimination or breach of employment contract.
The data below shows an overview of the different types of claims filed and also their respective numbers in the state of OR in 2017.
| State | 2017 Total Charges | % of Total USA Charges | Race | Sex | Natl Origin | Religion | Color | Retaliation All Statutes | TVII Retaliation | Age | Disability | EPA | GINA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 238 | 0.30% | 36 | 73 | 29 | 11 | 8 | 113 | 71 | 62 | 89 | 2 | 5 |
Source: https://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/state_17.cfm
Wrongful discharge and discrimination cases & settlements in Oregon
$ 55,000
12/13/2016
Nicole Whitley v Portland Police Bureau
Nicole Whitley was a police recruit at the Portland Police Bureau. She began her police training in 2006, and was fired the same year.
Whitley was singled out because her “nipples showed through her uniform”, and she was asked to wear extra layers of clothing. She took offense, and complained about the discriminatory treatment to her supervisor. She was fired not much later.
She alleged that she was the victim of sex discrimination and retaliation, which led to her wrongful termination. She sued the City of Portland on these charges.
The Police Bureau claimed that she was fired because of poor performance, but nevertheless, chose to settle the case and pay her a settlement of $170,000. Source
$ 150,000
4/7/2012
EEOC v Burger King franchisee Kaizen Restaurants
A 17 year old teenager started working at a Burger King restaurant in Sandy, OR. She worked there for 2 years, and during this time, she was constantly harassed by her supervisor.
He would give unwelcome sexual comments, discuss her virginity, and touch her in unwelcome ways. He followed her around the store and into the parking lot on breaks. She complained about her supervisor to management, but nothing was done.
After 2 years, the events culminated in her constructive discharge as she feared for her safety. The EEOC sued the company on her behalf for violating Title VII. She received a settlement of $150,000. Source
$ 170,000
4/5/2010
EEOC v OnSite Solutions
OnSite Solutions provides car detailing services to a Ford dealership in Midwest City, OK.
The detailing crew was led by Douglas Williams, an African-American man. He was approached by a manager from OnSite and was told that they wanted to “sprinkle a little salt”, which meant that they wanted to replace black employees with Latino and white workers. A few days later, Williams was demoted and replaced by a Hispanic crew leader, who fired 3 black workers and replaced them with 1 Hispanic and 2 white workers.
Racial discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The demotion and wrongful termination of workers because of their race is illegal.
The EEOC sued the company for discrimination and reached a settlement of $50,000 through a consent decree. Source
$ 150,000
4/21/2011
EEOC v Willamette Tree Wholesale, Inc.
Willamette Tree Wholesale is a tree farm in Molalla, OR. The EEOC sued the company after it received reports of extreme sexual harassment and retaliation happening at the workplace.
A supervisor sexually assaulted a Latino woman over several months. When she gathered the strength to refuse, she was fired in retaliation. The woman’s sister also worked on the farm, and she was also sexually harassed by the same supervisor, as well as a crew leader. She, and her husband, were fired after complaining. Another close relative of theirs working on the farm was also fired.
Immigrant farm workers are often the target of harassment. They seldom speak up, since they fear for their jobs and need to support families.
Sexual harassment, sex discrimination and retaliation violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The lawsuit brought by the EEOC on the victims’ behalf was settled through a consent decree. The wrongfully terminated workers received a settlement of $150,000. Source
$ 400,000
9/12/2003
Yasuko Ishikawa v Delta Airlines & LabOne Inc,
Yasuko Ishikawa was a flight attendant working for Delta. On a flight from Japan to Portland, she was asked to take a drug detection urine test.
She failed the test and was fired. The laboratory performing the lab test, LabOne, said that she cheated on the test by providing a urine sample that was not urine.
As it turned out, the lab performed the test negligently, and tried to cover it up.
She sued Delta and LabOne for the state common law tort of negligence. She was reinstated to her job, and the jury awarded her $400,000 in damages. The decision was appealed, but affirmed by the Court of Appeals. Source
$ 80,000
5/24/2012
EEOC v Pioneer Place Assisted Living
Pioneer Place Assisted Living is a nursing home in Vale, Oregon. The EEOC sued the company for discriminating against a disabled job applicant. The law protects job applicants as well as existing employees from discrimination.
Pamila Bourasa applied to work at the company as a cook. She went through the regular rounds of interviews, was offered the position and had a start date. She was told that she would have to take a drug test before starting, and she informed the company that she was taking prescription medication for epilepsy. Her job offer was rescinded afterwards.
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against able workers living with a disability. Bourasa had 40 years of experience in the restaurant industry, and has worked in a nursing home before. She was more than qualified for the job, but was not hired because of her epilepsy.
The case was settled with a consent decree, Bourasa received $80,000 in monetary relief. Source
$ 25,000
4/14/2010
EEOC v Wheeler County
Patricia Hyatt, age 67, applied for a part-time office assistant position for Wheeler County’s county assessor. She had 40 years of relevant experience for the job, but was passed over in favor of a lesser experienced, younger candidate.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects people aged 40 and older from employment discrimination. Hyatt reported the events to the EEOC, who sued the County for age discrimination.
The case was settle through a consent decree, she received a settlement of $25,000. Source
$ 85,000
2/3/2011
EEOC v Pacific Seafood
Jesus Perez was a warehouse worker for Pacific Seafood, a seafood processing and distribution company in Clackamas, Oregon. He worked at the company for several years and had a good record.
He was wrongfully terminated after he raised a complaint with management concerning a recent salary raise. He noted that his raise was smaller than a non-hispanic colleague’s. He was fired on the spot.
Racial discrimination and retaliation violates Title VII. The EEOC sued the company and after 4 years, the case was settled. Perez received $85,000. Source
When viewing our list of unlawful firing settlements from Oregon, bear in mind that the larger amounts are as a result of punitive compensation. Punitive damages are rewarded to discourage corporations from engaging in the same sort of unjust act. Punitive compensation is extremely infrequent. A large percentage of cases will settle for approximately $40,000 to just a few hundred thousand dollars.
Our report on wrongful firing verdicts in OR is meant for informational purposes. Even if you feel similarity to any of these claims, remember that every single case is unique.
The average wrongful termination settlements in Oregon
It’s understandable that you want to check just how much money you are likely to receive for your unlawful termination case.
If you reach settlement, the exact amount you acquire is ordinarily dependant on these factors: mental anguish, lost wages, medical costs, reason of termination, benefits lost and the costs of finding a new job. Punitive damages could be granted in rare cases, in the event the company acted egregiously.
As you will notice from the example cases in this article, giving a standard settlement for unlawful dismissal cases in OR is actually difficult because each and every case is different.
The average wrongful termination settlement in Oregon is between $4,000 – $100,000.
Legal professionals can certainly be beneficial while working out a better settlement.
The average courtroom awards are generally higher, between $90,000 to $400,000. This is certainly one reason companies like to accept a settlement outside of court. Numerous years of litigation, bearing the legal costs and possibly losing the case in the end can certainly be costly.
Filing a wrongful discharge or discrimination claim in Oregon
If you think maybe you had been discharged for some kind of illegal reason, this is what to do.
At the outset, you’ll need to talk to a wrongful termination attorney in Oregon to determine if you have a case worth going after.
Do not hold off, since there can be cutoff dates to reporting unlawful dismissal claims in Oregon.
Next, you are going to probably need to submit a timely claim with Oregon’s Bureau of Labor & Industries.
These are the steps you will need to take to file a wrongful termination lawsuit.
