Ex-prosecutor, high ranking staffer accuse Multnomah DA of discrimination

After making hay on the campaign trail about

legal complaints

against his predecessor, Multnomah County

District Attorney Nathan Vasquez

now finds himself on the wrong end of possible litigation.

In April, two ex-staffers — both women of color — filed notice with the county threatening to sue the DA’s office for workplace discrimination, unless each claim was settled with a roughly $300,000 payout.

The two tort claim notices were filed just months after

Vasquez won election

against

Mike Schmidt

, who faced

similar allegations

while in office.

During Schmidt’s lone term,

three female prosecutors

left the DA’s office in highly publicized cases. Vasquez is

now forced to defend against a $725,000 lawsuit

filed by the state Bureau of Labor and Industry, which found

whistleblower retaliation

in one of those cases.

Oregon Public Broadcasting first

reported

the claims against Vasquez’s office.

The first complaint comes from Jamila Williams, a 20-year veteran of the office who was working as operations manager when she says Vasquez sidelined her in

favor of his own man,

chief of staff Adam Brown.

Beth Creighton, an attorney for Williams, said her client’s support for Schmidt became widely known when news cameras showed Williams alongside her boss at his 2024 election night party.

That — alongside various clashes with Vasquez’s staff, and racial microaggressions — was enough to prompt the top prosecutor to cut her position in retaliation, according to her attorney.

“She made complaints about how people were being treated, and she was not aligned with Nathan Vazquez,” Creighton said. “He got rid of her.”

Vasquez says he’s been shuffling the office organizational chart this budget season as part of an efficiency push that eliminated Williams’ position. He denied the job cut was motivated by race or political affiliation.

“Ms. Williams served this office with distinction for over 20 years, and we are grateful for her contributions,” a spokesperson for Vasquez said.

Williams, 45, was paid $154,000 last year, according to a

newspaper database.

The second tort notice was filed by D. Stephanie Rivera, a former prosecutor who joined the office in 2022.

In the complaint, Rivera, 35, says her newborn son had difficulty eating from a bottle, and had previously been told she could work from home

on some days when Vasquez summarily ended the remote work policy upon taking office.

Rivera claims she was passed over for a promotion, and that rather than accommodating her, the office suggested she begin working part time. Rivera says she was forced to resign.

Pat Dooris, the DA’s spokesperson, said the DA’s office was more than willing to continue Rivera’s hybrid schedule on a short-term basis, but Rivera left the $122,000-a-year job instead.

“We appreciated her work and were disappointed by her decision to leave,” Dooris said.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083,

zsparling@oregonian.com

or

@pdxzane

.

More Legal Coverage

Owners of refrigerators from 3 popular brands may be owed up to $300; deadline to apply is Wednesday
Oregon governor picks new Clackamas County judge
Appeals court blocks judge’s order to return control of National Guard to California
Judge says Trump must return control of National Guard to California
Oregon Supreme Court to review gun control Measure 114 in November