‘Blue Lives Matter’ Flag Payout: Former Employee in Oregon Will Get $100,000 – By Dom Calicchio (Lifezette) / April 21 2019
Plaintiff, a black woman, said the pro-police stance offended her
A county in Oregon has agreed to pay a former employee a $100,000 settlement after she sued the county for racial discrimination because a co-worker had posted a “Blue Lives Matter” flag in an office in support of local police.
The former employee, Karimah Guion-Pledgure, had worked as a corrections technician for the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice since 2011 but agreed to drop her lawsuit and resign as part of the settlement, the Portland Mercury reported, although she will be permitted to apply for another county job.
In her lawsuit, Guion-Pledgure alleged that other county employees had retaliated against her after she complained that the pro-police flag was offensive, the report said.
The plaintiff, a black woman, contended that the phrase “Blue Lives Matter” had co-opted the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” and thus denigrated and diluted the original term.
According to the Mercury, the woman who sued originally protested the flag by displaying photos of people of color who had been killed by police officers.
Multnomah County has agreed to pay $100,000 to a black employee who claimed the county fostered a racially insensitive workplace after she complained about a co-worker who pinned up a “Blue Lives Matter” flag.
https://t.co/9pgOkA6sn7 pic.twitter.com/LT98NjvxNl
— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) April 20, 2019
Department managers then asked her to remove the photos.
But she refused because the pro-police flag was allowed to stay in place.
A county spokeswoman, Jessica Morkert-Shibley, said county officials were working on policy revisions intended to avoid such disputes in the future, the Oregonian reported.
The plaintiff had originally sought $420,000 in her lawsuit, the newspaper reported.
https://www.lifezette.com/2019/04/blue-lives-matter-flag-payout-former-employee-will-get-100000/
