Erick Bengel
The Daily Astorian, Ore.
（MCT）
Dec. 24—A former paramedic firefighter at the Knappa Fire District is suing for more than $5 million, alleging she experienced gender-based discrimination and harassment at work.
Amy Lenz joined the fire district in 2003 and served as an emergency medical services officer.
Her claims against the fire district were the basis of a state Bureau of Labor and Industries report issued in December 2020. The bureau found substantial evidence that the fire district engaged in an unlawful employment practice, including subjecting Lenz to “disparate treatment and a hostile work environment based on her sex.”
The Bureau of Labor and Industries declined to press charges last summer. Lenz is pursuing a lawsuit with Portland-based Dolan Law Group PC.
According to Lenz’s complaint, filed in Circuit Court in December, she had reached a “breaking point” in fall 2018 with a male supervisor who “subjected her to constant harassment on the basis of her gender.”
“This occurred on every single call where they both responded, which happened on at least a weekly basis,” the complaint said. He also harassed her “in front of (fire district) cadets, volunteers, and other officers. None of the witnesses ever intervened.”
据称主管称她的贬低和性别名称，其中包括对她的体重的引用。他据称，李登和一位女同事们致力于这个观点，妇女“不属于消防服务，那个女性太愚蠢，而且女性不能像男人一样做好，”投诉说。
据国家报告和投诉既是据国家报告和投诉，Lenz一再讲述了Paul Olheiser关于她的主管行为，但主席没有采取纠正措施。与此同时，Lenz的主管没有放松。在一个点，消防区带来了一名律师，讨论了骚扰，报告和报复与伦敦主管，Olheiser，董事会和志愿者的骚扰，报告和报复，但董事会没有参加。
Lenz said in an interview with The Astorian that she sought help through the channels available to her at the fire district. “I tried doing it the right way, and I was blown off,” she said.
In addition, Lenz said she was denied opportunities for career advancement that were extended to men, a claim backed up by the state report.
According to fire district policy, Lenz should have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant when she became an emergency medical services officer in 2005. All of Knappa’s male officers had received rankings.
Lenz requested an executive session with the fire district’s board in March 2019 to discuss her ongoing concerns about safety issues and her supervisor’s behavior. During a heated exchange between Lenz and Olheiser, the complaint said, the chief said he would punish her for her role in dysfunction that allegedly occurred when Knappa crew were deployed to the Camp fire in Paradise, California, in 2018.
The fire district soon suspended Lenz from conflagration fires, then replaced her as emergency medical services officer without notifying her, the Bureau of Labor and Industries report said.
Fire Chief Kurt Donaldson, who stepped into the role when Olheiser retired in 2019, said the fire district does not comment on pending litigation.
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