Oregon

Woman fell from bed through 3rd-story window while sleeping, is now suing property manager for $230K

A woman who fell from her bed through an open third-story window while sleeping in her Corvallis, Oregon, apartment last summer is suing the building’s property manager for $230,000 in damages. Shelbi Macholz alleges in her Lane County Circuit Court complaint (PDF) that Principle Property Management failed to keep the…

Jul 29, 2015 11:30 AM CDT

Struck by pickup, injured bicyclist sues another driver who she says gave pickup the OK to turn

Jeffrey Lovelady may have thought he was being courteous and helpful by allegedly giving a man at the wheel of a pickup a go-ahead signal to make a left turn in an industrial area of Portland, Oregon, last year. But now he is facing a big-bucks accident suit. Struck by…

Jul 23, 2015 1:55 PM CDT

Transgender defendant stole nearly $250K in SSI benefits as a man while earning income as a woman

A 70-year-old transgender woman stole nearly $250,000 in federal disability benefits by applying for them as a man while working simultaneously as a woman during much of the same period she was receiving SSI payments. Sentenced Monday by a federal judge to eight months of home confinement and three years…

Jul 21, 2015 2:10 PM CDT

Lewis Brisbois opens Oregon office with a dozen Williams Kastner lawyers

Lewis Brisbois has opened an office in Portland, Oregon, with 12 lawyers from Williams Kastner. Seven of the lawyers making the leap to Lewis Brisbois are partners. All have strong backgrounds in litigation, including in the areas of health care, medical and professional liability, products liability, toxic torts, and insurance…

Jul 2, 2015 11:58 AM CDT

Convicted kidnapper faces new stalking case after alleged encounters near prosecutor’s home

A convicted kidnapper and sex offender is facing a misdemeanor stalking case after multiple alleged encounters with an Oregon prosecutor near her home. A probable cause affidavit says Multnomah County deputy district attorney Nicole Jergovic first spoke with Shane Vondel Michael Greene, 53, on June 19 or 20. She was…

Jul 1, 2015 3:35 PM CDT

9th Circuit revives inmate’s pro se suit over being required to work with pork in kitchen

A federal appeals court has given a green light to a former inmate’s First Amendment complaint over being required to work with pork as part of his job assignment in an Oregon prison kitchen. Reversing a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in a pro se lawsuit by Clarence Eugene…

Jun 29, 2015 11:55 AM CDT

Complaints about crotch-touching lawyer led to staffer’s firing, suit says

A former operations manager for an Oregon law firm claims in a lawsuit that she was fired because of her complaints about a partner’s crotch touching. Former employee Ashley Buxton seeks $250,000 in her suit against the law firm Shapiro & Sutherland, the Oregonian reports. The suit says Shapiro &…

Jun 17, 2015 7:04 AM CDT

Insurer sued over claim it refuses to cover disabled homeowners who have pit bulls as service dogs

A major insurer is facing a federal housing discrimination case over its alleged refusal to provide homeowner coverage to individuals who have a pit bull as a service animal. Several Travelers insurance companies and two insurance agents are named in the suit brought by the Fair Housing Council of Oregon.…

Jun 2, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

Employer who provided bucket in van for use as toilet is sued for $4M over death of worker

Andrew Lane needed to use the toilet while on the job for an Oregon company that provided pressure-washing and gutter-cleaning services to homeowners. But his employer, Superior Home Maintenance, provided only a bucket for that purpose. And, when Lane stepped into the back of the work truck where the bucket…

May 13, 2015 3:15 PM CDT

Photo of airborne bike lock in cyclist-driver road-rage incident sparks public advice

An Oregon woman, her teenage daughter and two bicyclists have different perspectives about what went wrong during a Tuesday evening road-rage incident in Portland, Oregon. One thing, however, is clear, thanks to a cellphone photo snapped by one of the participants: A u-shaped metal bike lock went flying through the…

May 7, 2015 2:45 PM CDT

Masked gunman in surprise ‘active shooter’ school drill traumatized teacher, federal lawsuit says

A surprise “active shooter” drill at a charter school in a rural Oregon community in 2013 was intended to help staff make better preparations to deflect real bullets, if such a situation ever occurs. No students were present on the in-service day when two masked, hooded, armed men appeared in…

Apr 21, 2015 11:35 AM CDT

Jury awards couple nearly $240K over neighbors’ barking dogs

An Oregon jury has awarded nearly $240,000 to a Rogue River couple who said they had to listen to their neighbors’ dogs constant barking for over a decade. Plaintiffs Dale and Debra Krein said in the Jackson County suit that John Updegraff and Karen Szewc began breeding Tibetan mastiffs in…

Apr 16, 2015 3:45 PM CDT

Woman faces new charges of animal neglect; cop wore gas mask to rescue kitten

Found not guilty of animal neglect during a 2011 trial, an Oregon woman is now facing new charges. After a Portland police officer donned a gas mask to enter the abandoned apartment of Edna Sue Blair, a warrant was issued for her arrest. A total of four charges of animal…

Apr 1, 2015 9:30 AM CDT

Will California be the next state to allow legal technicians? Bar group calls for pilot program

Washington is currently the only state with a program allowing limited license legal technicians to help civil litigants prepare legal documents and provide advice on legal procedures. But bar groups in two other states are taking steps that could lead to legal technician programs in their own jurisdictions. A task…

Mar 23, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Man held 900 days as material witness gains freedom and a check after testy testimony

A man held more than 900 days as a material witness in an alleged murder by his son gained his freedom on Thursday after testifying that he never heard his son confess to the crime. Benito Vasquez-Hernandez also told jurors in Hillsboro, Oregon, that he didn’t see blood on his…

Mar 20, 2015 8:22 AM CDT