A report commissioned by Lane County found that Commissioner David Loveall retaliated against three employees, including multiple instances of retaliation against all three.
The report found that Loveall “took adverse actions” against two unnamed staff members and County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky with his actions after Human Resources complaints were made regarding his use of inappropriate language in the workplace.
Both unnamed employees were said to have been retaliated against when Loveall told Mokrohisky that complaints by employees against commissioners needed to stop. The report said he told Mokrohisky “And, if you don’t fix this, then you and I have a problem and I am going to do everything I can to get rid of these people.”
The report states that Loveall also told Mokrohisky, “Tell the employees to f— off, commissioners can do what they want and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”
Loveall was also found to have retaliated against Mokrohisky six times, ranging from threats to Mokrohisky’s job, cancelled meetings, disparaging him publicly, and giving him the lowest possible rank in a performance review.
In response to a request for an interview or comment, Loveall sent the following message to KLCC via text message.
“The process surrounding this investigation has been a partisan attack that has relied on suspect allegations and a flawed investigation that has ignored any evidence that did not support the seemingly pre-decided conclusion.
"Since my election four years ago, I have pushed back on the system to ensure greater accountability and make our local government responsible to the people of our county and it is clear the system is now pushing back as the county has ignored every safeguard and protocol to publish this report before it’s been officially presented to the board.
"It’s clear these allegations are being brought forward now as a brazen attempt to influence the upcoming election.
"I’m exploring every avenue to pursue against the county for their mishandling of this matter and look forward to a quick resolution of these baseless accusations brought by activist staff members who are attempting to insert themselves into the political process.”
Retaliation findings stem from past use of language around employees
The report begins by outlining specific dates and events surrounding the complaint.
It begins with a May 7, 2025 coffee meeting between Loveall and two staff members.
“During the meeting, Commissioner Loveall stated words to the effect of, every time he thought of that community partner, ‘I think of a stripper on a stripper’s pole, her hands moving like this,’ the report said.
Those comments resulted in a human resources complaint from one employee.
According to the report, Loveall withheld pertinent information from that employee at a July 16 meeting saying “he would ‘hold off on sharing’ identifying information, referencing that he had shared in the past and been ‘bitten.’”
The second unidentified employee complained about Loveall’s use of religious language: “On several occasions, Commissioner Loveall had repeatedly used religious language. The May 14 complaint referred ‘specifically terms like ‘Kingdom work,’ which he wrote while signing my birthday card.’”
“Employee 2 reported having experienced ‘religious trauma’ and preferred not to engage in any conversations about religion in the workplace,” the report said.
The second employee also complained after Loveall detailed the complaints, though he did not mention names, during an Aug. 25 appearance on the “Captive Audience” podcast. That act was considered retaliatory in the report.
The report also notes retaliation against both employees relating to comments to County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky regarding his want to have them fired if complaints did not stop.
The report detailed further interaction between Loveall and Mokrohisky.
It begins with a June 17 conversation where Loveall entered Mokrohisky’s office and requested that Mokrohisky make employees stop making complaints against him, using the language mentioned earlier.
During a June 23 meeting, Loveall is reported to have said to Mokrohisky, “Can someone give me a list of bad words that I can’t say? We need a culture change. This DEI thing is over the top. Words like blessings and spinster are triggers?”
There is mention of four cancelled meetings between the two between July 9 and Sept. 8
On Aug. 26, Loveall gave Mokrohisky a one out of five on his annual performance review, with his reasons being “unsupported by documentation and internally inconsistent.”
On Nov. 17, Mokrohisky wrote that he was approached by a local business owner, noting that he was told, “[Loveall] is indiscriminately telling people that he is just trying to get his third vote and then he is getting rid of you on day one, even if he has to pay $500,000. I don’t know where he got that number, but that’s what he said. He is telling people he will be completely exonerated by the investigation.”
The report said Loveall retaliated against Mokrohisky six times in total, including threatening his job on three occasions, scoring him low on his performance review, cancelling meetings and making critical or disparaging remarks to members of the public and in the media.
A release from Lane County says the board of commissioners will consider the report at its next meeting, which is currently scheduled for Feb. 18.
