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OregonLive runs three-part series on Amazon data centers’ Morrow County impact 50¢ VOL. 141 NO. 36 8 Pages Wednesday, September 7, 2022 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Fired county administrator files $750,000 lawsuit Green claims unlawful employment practices, wrongful discharge, and violation of open meetings law Former County Administra- tor Darrell Green has filed a $750,000 lawsuit against Morrow County, alleging unlawful employment prac- tices, wrongful discharge and violation of the open meetings law. Green was terminated June 28 for al- legedly violating a nepo- tism agreement involving his wife Debra, who also worked for the county in the health department. In his lawsuit, filed in cir- cuit court last week, Green is seeking $250,000 in eco- nomic damages for lost income and $500,000 in non-economic damages for mental stress, humiliation and inconvenience. He is also seeking to recover his attorney fees incurred in the lawsuit. Green’s attorney is Loren Collins of Salem who specializes in employee representation. Unlawful Employment Practices Green’s first claim says it was against the law to fire him “solely” because his wife also worked for the county, as long as he was not her supervisor. Green says except for a short pe- riod of time, approximately one month from late No- vember to late December 2020 he was “never in a position of exercising su- pervisory, appointment or grievance authority over Debra.” He also says during that one-month period he never actually “exercised” supervisory duties over her. Later in May of 2021 Green signed a nepotism agreement with the county stating Debra supervisor would be the public health director and if “substantial escalation” were needed in an employment matter or dispute the issue would then go directly to Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson, who was assigned by the Board of Commissioners to act in this role. The nepotism agreement was singed by Debra and Darrell, Com- missioner Melissa Lindsay, DA Justin Nelson, Public Health Director Nazario Ri- vera and Human Resource Director Lindsay Grogan. However, the county’s La- bor Counsel Bruce Bischof said in a May 2022 letter to both Debra and Darrell, and made part of the law- suit filing, that the nepo- tism agreement was “not having the desired effect,” Former county admin- istrator Darrell Green and therefore the county “is providing you both 30 days to decide which one of you will resign from employment.” The Green’s had until June 24 to decide which one would resign, and when neither did, the county com- missioners on June 28 in front of a packed public meeting room, voted 2-1 to fire Darrell. The county later also terminated Debra but not at a public meeting. The investigation How the county conclud- ed the nepotism agree- ment wasn’t working was through an independent investigation by an outside attorney paid for by the county. According to Bischof’s resignation demand let- ter sent to the Greens, the county had earlier received “several” complaints about Debra’s conduct on the job. In addition, there were also complaints made by Debra against the county regard- ing alleged improprieties of COVID-19 vaccine actions taken by the then-Public Health Department Di- rector Nazario during the pandemic. Debra thought these transgressions were so serious enough she need- ed to become a whistle blower and report them. County Commissioners felt all these complaints taken together warranted the outside investigation, as explained by Bischof in his letter to the Greens. “Because of the complexi- ty of these complaints, the county retained an indepen- dent third-party investigator to review the totality of the situation,” Bischof stated. Although never made public Bischof said after the investigation was com- pleted it revealed that Debra had made “disrespectful and derogatory comments in the workplace about her supervisor, the former Public Health Department Director; and engaged in disrespectful and confron- tational behavior toward another County employee.” Bischof said her conduct violated the county’s no bullying policy. In his termination letter to the Greens and made part of the public lawsuit Bis- chof said the investigation was not the first time the county addressed “prob- lematic performance” on the part of Debra. “In fact, a lack of professionalism and inappropriate communica- tion were issues raised as far back as Deb’s probation- ary period in 2019, which resulted in her being placed on a performance improve- ment plan. Previous efforts to correct Deb’s conduct have been unsuccessful, in part because of Darrell’s in- volvement in Deb’s person- nel matters,” Bischof said in bringing up the alleged nepotism issue. He added that in early 2021, when the Public Health Department was attempting to address Deb’s conduct, there were concerns raised then that “Darrell was interfering in Deb’s personnel matters.” Bischof said the outside in- vestigation of the health de- partment was also prompt- ed by “propriety of actions taken by the then-Public Health Department Director (Nazario).” Those actions centered around Nazario, and Health Department Employees alleged improp- er handling of COVID-19 vaccination protocols and documents. In his complain with the court Darrell spelled out his handling of those im- proprieties saying in July of 2021 he was notified that a nurse in the health department had “falsified notes on a medical chart.” Meeting with Director Rivera about the alleged falsifications Darrell said Rivera was “unable to tell him what was going on re- lating to this issue.” On an- other occasion Darrell was informed of a complaint against the Public Health Department about a person with COVID-19 symp- toms who had requested assistance at the Boardman office saying there was a lack of protocols for people displaying COVID symp- toms. The next day Rivera complained to the county human resource department that Darrell had retaliated against him because Rivera had earlier “verbally repri- manded” Debra. Later in March of 2022 after becoming a whistleblower and reporting the COVID improprieties to county officials, Debra then filed a labor complaint with the state Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) saying she had been retaliated against for her actions. “I found that the Morrow County Health Department was not following the Data Submis- sion Guide required by the Oregon Health Authority in regard to the COVID-19 vaccines,” she said in her complaint. She charged that Rivera, who was at that point no longer employed at the county, “falsified medical documents” which she then reported to her supervisor, who was also Rivera, and to Local Pub- lic Health Administration (LPHA) Director Darrell Continued page 2 The OregonLive news web site is running a three-part series on Amazon’s arrival with its large data centers in Boardman and the impact it has had on Morrow Coun- ty. The stories are accessible online at www.oregonlive. com. “This special report from The Oregonian/Or- egonLive examines what happens when one of the world’s biggest companies lands in one of Oregon’s smallest communities. Internet data centers bring big economic upside, but they come with costs — often amplified by tax breaks.” Mediation could help end ambulance dispute County and Fire District discuss ending conflict Boardman Fire Chief Michael Hughes (left) speaks to county commissioners Don Russell, Jim Doherty and Melissa Lindsay about ways to solve the ongoing emergency medical service disagreement. Having an outside me- diator hold talks with com- munity leaders across the county could lead to res- olution of a long-running dispute between the County Health District and Board- man Rural Fire District over ambulance service in north Morrow County. For months the two districts have battled over how to provide ambulance service in the area, with the conflict producing, accusations, caustic statements and both sides hiring attorneys. The ongoing argument is over who should respond to emergency medical calls in the Boardman area. The health district has, for 27 years, provided emergency medical service (EMS) there and has ambulances stationed in both Board- man and Irrigon. Howev- er, Boardman Fire Chief Michael Hughes recently acquired three ambulances, and now wants licenses to also provide the service. Hughes says the additional ambulances will give citi- zens added medical protec- tion and safety. Fire trucks are now being used to respond to the medical emergency calls but without licenses cannot transport patients. The fire district responding to calls at the same time as Health District ambulances has led to the accusations of “call jumping” by the health district, and requests to the Sheriff office to stop send- ing 911 EMS dispatch calls to the Fire District. In an effort to break the contentious months-long dispute county commis- sioners at a special August 31 meeting discussed hiring a professional mediator that specializes in emergency services issues to look into the county’s Ambulance Service Area Plan (ASA) for solutions to the prob- lem. The ASA governs how emergency services are deployed in Morrow County. A link to the plan is available on the Morrow County Health District web site. At the special meeting Commission Chair Jim Doherty suggested maybe it was time to bring in a pro- fessional to help the county solve the dispute. “Maybe we need to take a re-look at this and visit with peo- ple in health care,” he said. “Perhaps we can look into what Mike Hughes said to us” (see further in story). In looking for a mediator Doherty said he had talked to a woman at the state level “who does these type of things” (negotiate EMS disputes) who may be will- ing to act as mediator in the argument. Doherty agreed that all the participants, Sheriff for dispatch, fire chief, health people and other leaders need to come together “hopefully in a public meeting” and work out the problem, adding that it can be a complex is- sue. “There are 36 counties in Oregon and 36 models,” he said about various am- bulance service area plans. Commissioner Don Russell agreed with the mediator idea saying “I think this would be a good thing. We need to put the baggage behind us and go forward with the best model that brings the best service to the people.” A motion was made to move forward and look for a mediator for examining the county ASA plan. Earlier in the month at an August 17 commis- Continued page 2 CALL 541-989-8221 ext 204 for more information
