Portland Transportation Employee Bound With Duct Tape and Locked in a Shed Gets Payout for Hazing

The settlement emerges from allegations of "extreme hazing" first reported by WW.

A city maintenance worker was immobilized with duct tape in a city workshop last October.
By Hannah Chinn

The city of Portland is poised to pay $80,000 to a worker who alleged he was subjected to "extreme hazing" inside the Bureau of Transportation's maintenance shop.

The City Council will vote Wednesday to approve a settlement with Adam Rawlins, who sued PBOT for $250,000 last year, alleging crew leaders subjected him to ritual humiliations, including being bound with zip ties and duct tape and locked in a shed. He was one of several employees to allege such abuse, but the only one to sue.

WW first reported on the allegations, which resulted in the disciplining of five employees ("Little Shop of Hazing," WW, May 31, 2017). 

The Oregonian first reported on the proposed settlement.

"The 2016 incident was an egregious violation of the city's rules for professional conduct in the workplace," the Transportation Bureau says in a statement, saying it had restructured the maintenance division.

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