Oregon Lieutenant Awarded $203,900 By Jury

An Oregon jury has awarded $203,900 in damages to a lieutenant with the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue. Lieutenant Daniel Krug filed suit claiming he was pressured to remove himself from a promotional list for captain, and discriminated against on the basis of disability, veterans’ status, and whistleblower status. 

Here is our earlier coverage of the case. The following information was provided in a press release from Lt. Krug’s attorney, Katelyn S. Oldham.

  • Lieutenant Daniel Krug received a verdict in his favor on his whistleblowing claims and on an aider and abettor claim on July 22, 2024, after a five-day jury trial. He will receive $203,900 in damages from his employer, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue.
  • Lieutenant Krug’s claims concerned a civil service promotional process he believed veteran’s preference points needed to be applied to in order to be in compliance with state statutes. Lieutenant Krug is a disabled veteran, lawfully entitled to preference points in civil service hiring and promotional processes.
  • After raising the issue with the District’s human resources, then through an informal veteran’s committee and through his labor union, the District finally changed its policy to apply the veteran’s preference points. It took approximately one year for the District to make the change. Lieutenant Krug had also sent two emails to the union listserv – one that related to a union election and one that related to PTSD. When questioned about the emails by District Chief of Operations Greg Ladrow and other managers, Lieutenant Krug asserted that they were protected union communications. Oregon has a law that protects such concerted activities, the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act.
  • During his promotional process, the District took actions that appeared biased and improperly considered the emails Lieutenant Krug had sent to the union listserv as reasons not to promote him and, later, to decline to extend his acting captain position. After Lieutenant Krug raised concerns about the promotional process and requested the interview notes and scores, the District took immediate steps to remove him from the Captain’s promotional list and ultimately threatened him with an investigation if he did not request to be removed from the list. He removed his name from the list out of fear that the District would end his career if he did not.
  • The jury agreed that actions taken by the District were in retaliation for Lieutenant Krug’s whistleblowing activities and that the former District Chief of Operations, Gregory Ladrow, aided and abetted the District in its unlawful conduct. The jury did not find that the District discriminated against Lieutenant Krug on the basis of his veteran’s status or disability.
  • Lieutenant Krug remains employed at Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, a fire district in the Portland metro area in Oregon. He is hopeful that this case will provide greater protection for his co-workers who report or object to unlawful conduct.

According to Ms. Oldham, the jury allocated $3,900 for economic damages, and $200,000 for harm to his reputation/standing and related noneconomic damages.

About Curt Varone

Curt Varone has over 45 years of fire service experience and 35 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014, 4th ed. 2022) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.
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