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The former diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department filed a lawsuit against the agency in Marion County Circuit Court Oct. 15, alleging “unlawful employment practices.”
In her lawsuit, Julie Graves says she began working in July 2022 at the agency, which oversees Oregon state parks. Her job was to give presentations and training to agency employees across the state on DEI issues and initiatives.
In April 2023, Graves made a presentation to an all-staff meeting of the agency’s eastern region employees in Redmond. “During this meeting, [Graves] stated Eastern and Western Oregon face different historical and cultural challenges in effectuating DEI initiatives and goals, or words to that effect,” the lawsuit says.
When Graves returned to Salem, however, she learned that her presentation had struck a nerve, one that ended her job.
“The following week, Ms. Graves was called into a meeting with her supervisor Daniel Killam,” the lawsuit says. “In that meeting Killam said Ms. Graves was being dismissed from employment because she ‘stood up there and stated that everyone in eastern Oregon are racists and bigots.’”
The lawsuit characterizes what Graves said in Redmond differently: “Parks fired [Graves] for opposing discrimination.” In other words, Graves contends, not only did she not say what her boss accused her of saying but her presentation included the accurate observation that there are cultural differences between different parts of the state and DEI training should acknowledge those differences.
The lawsuit comes in the wake of upheaval around DEI policies at another resource agency, the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Related: State Provides More Information About Suspension of Deputy Director at Department of Forestry
Roy Kaufmann, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Justice, which represents state agencies in court, says DOJ is reviewing the lawsuit against OPDR.
Graves is seeking $500,000 in damages.