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Springfield Whistleblower Awarded Damages

The state of Oregon is awarding back-pay and damages to a whistleblower who reported on an adult care home in Springfield. The employee was suspended after telling the county the home was not providing adequate food to its residents.

The State Bureau of Labor and Industries, or BOLI, announced Wednesday that it will seek more than 20 thousand dollars from Blue Gryphon LLC, which operated the facility. Charlie Burr is spokesman for BOLI.
Burr: “It’s very important that employees know that they should feel free to report abuse or neglect when they see it, that if there are safety concerns, if they report it, first of all they’re mandatory reporters, they shouldn’t have to fear losing their job, being suspended or the like because of doing their duty.”
Employee Lewis Garchow was suspended after reporting to Lane County that the adult care home was not feeding its residents enough. BOLI awarded him back pay and damages totaling just over 20 thousand dollars. The home closed about 2 years ago after losing county funding.

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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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