Workers win $1 million verdict in racial harassment suit against Portland Public Schools

A Portland jury on Thursday awarded $1 million to two Portland Public Schools maintenance workers who said they faced a barrage of racial harassment, including being called the N-word and having a noose hung in the workplace.

Portland Public Schools workers Charles Morgan and Jason Williams also argued the district downplayed their experience by finding they had experienced "microaggressions," not discrimination.

They alleged that the district has no timetable for completing investigations and drags them out purposefully in hopes that a "cooling off" period will cause the matter to be forgotten.

Other human resources matters have plagued the school district as well, including botched personnel investigations and failures to demote or fire employees pegged as poor performers. Sean Murray, the district's human resources director of more than four years, resigned this week, effective June 4.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2017/05/workers_win_1_million_verdict.html