Oregon Department of Corrections sued for $1 million in civil rights case

A former Oregon Department of Corrections employee is suing his previous employer for almost $1 million for retaliation and discrimination. 

Gary Sims, who worked as an administrator in the DOC Office of Diversity and Inclusion, is "seeking vindication of the DOC's unlawful retaliation against him" for helping employees with discrimination complaints instead of just forwarding them to human resources, according to the lawsuit. 

Sims' attorney, Christopher Lundberg, said in a complaint that Sims, who is black, stopped working with the DOC in November 2017 after the agency eliminated his position and failed to offer him an alternative job. 

State corrections officials did not respond to request for comment on the allegations made by Sims. 

A complaint filed Aug. 8 in Marion County Circuit Court alleges the following:

Though Sims' time working at DOC soured toward the end, his performance initially drew praise. 

After being promoted to the position of diversity and inclusion administrator in 2013 following his work in religious services and human resources, Sims said he built the diversity office from the ground up and was recognized for his "exceptional service."

He worked with Gov. Kate Brown's executive orders to promote diversity and include ethnic minorities and with prison Director Colette Peters to reaffirm the agency's dedication to fulfilling the goals of their affirmative action plan. 

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He processed discrimination complaints by staff and inmates and worked to improve relations between the prisons and Oregon's Native American tribes.

"Consistent with his dedication to the purported mission of the D&I Office to eliminate persistent discrimination at the DOC, Mr. Sims went beyond simply shuttling employee and inmate complaints of discrimination up the processing line," according to the complaint. "Rather, Mr. Sims assisted staff and inmates in advancing their discrimination claims and advocated on their behalf."

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"Likewise," the complaint continued, "rather than paying lip service to improving relations with the Native American tribes, Mr. Sims advanced the government-to-government relations between the DOC and tribes in a way that garnered the support and praise of the tribes he worked with."

But as Sims worked, his superiors became less enthusiastic and balked at his efforts. When he pushed back, "his superiors retaliatory efforts to limit his influence and effectiveness intensified even further," according to the lawsuit. 

He observed that agency officials neglected concerns of their employees regarding workplace discrimination. 

He cited an incident involving a religious services pamphlet published statewide that included a photo of a black child next to a photo of a gorilla. Staff concerned about racist stereotyping contacted Sims, who asked Director Peters to issue an apology to employees. 

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DOC took down the offending images but did not issue an apology, according to the complaint. 

Sims' relationships with his superiors continued to deteriorate. His supervisor admonished him for his efforts and said his conversations with DOC managers could have "potential negative impact to the D&I office's reputation."

Sims responded by reiterating his commitment to working with external stakeholders and tribes because he believed minority communities throughout the state felt that DOC was disengaged with the minority public. 

According to the complaint, during a 2017 meeting with Sims' supervisor and Director Peters, Peters reprimanded Sims for assisting in employees' discrimination complaints. 

As a result, his supervisor issued Sims a "work improvement plan" to provide written feedback on his progress and in-person meetings with Peters. The plan also barred him from spending time away from the office with external stakeholders and from responding to employee discrimination complaints. 

Sims said in the months following this meeting, Peters never met with him and supervisor to discuss this work plan progress. 

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On Nov. 28, 2017, he was informed that DOC decided to permanently close their diversity and inclusion office and transfer its duties to the Office of Workforce Planning. Sims said he was told this closure was due to budget concerns. 

During the closure, he was told he had "nothing coming" and should look for work in another state, according to the complaint. 

His attorney said he was "targeted for elimination based on his work assisting and advocating for employees and inmates who were pursuing discrimination claims against the DOC and his efforts to oppose and correct unlawful discrimination within the DOC directed at inmates and employees."

His actions, according to the lawsuit, were activity protected by the Civil Rights Act barring employer discrimination. 

The lawsuit requests DOC pay $552,000 in economic damages, including $442,00 in lost past and future wages, $60,000 in lowered PERS benefits and $50,000 from the loss of equity in a house that he was unable to make payments on as a result of his termination. He also suffered $350,000 in non-economic damages, according to the complaint. 

More DOC lawsuits:

• Coffee Creek Department of Corrections officer alleges culture of hazing and violence at agency
• 'You're not the only one': Former Coffee Creek inmates allege 'widespread' sex abuse, rape
• Judge tosses lawsuit filed by Oregon inmates over bad, spoiled prison food

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodwort@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth