The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 25th, 2015
A federal jury has awarded $755,000 to a former public-safety officer at the University of Oregon after determining that his supervisors at the institution retaliated against him for blowing the whistle on mismanagement and a juvenile culture in the campus’s police department. The Oregonian reports that the jury found the university’s police chief, Carolyn McDermed, and a lieutenant, Brandon Lebrecht, had retaliated against James Cleavenger by firing him and seeking to defame him.
“This is a victory for every honest police officer,” Jason Kafoury, a lawyer representing Mr. Cleavenger, told the newspaper. “The jury today honored and enforced an officer’s right to speak freely on matters of public concern, regardless of whether their superiors approve.”