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Former Employee Sues City of Springfield

The City of Springfield is facing a first amendment lawsuitfrom a fired employee. The former multicultural liaison for the police department says she was fired for speaking out about racial profiling.

Thelma Barone says at a City Club event in February she responded to a question about racial profiling saying she'd received complaints about the Springfield Police Department. Barone says soon after, she was placed on leave. The city agreed, months later, to reinstate her… on patrol duty. Eugene attorney Andrew Lewinter is representing Barone in the lawsuit.

Lewinter: "In order to keep even that demoted job, they required her to sign an agreement that she wouldn’t disparage, or say anything in a negative manner, about the City of Springfield, the Police Department, or any of its employees. When she refused to sign that letter, to relinquish her first amendment rights as a public employee, they fired her."
A statement from Springfield spokesman Niel Laudati says Barone was not fired over her comments at the city club event, and that the city will defend itself in court.
Police Chief Tim Doney, the city and three of its employees were named in the lawsuit.
 

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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