The University of Oregon received a tort claim notice from a UO therapist and her former colleague on Tuesday. The claim asks for compensatory damages associated with UO Counseling and Testing Center’s (UOCTC) alleged violation of First Amendment rights and unlawful employment practices.
The claim follows the settlement of an 11-month legal battle on Aug. 14 between the university and the survivor of an alleged sexual assault involving former players for the UO men’s basketball team. “Jane Doe,” a pseudonym used for the plaintiff throughout legal documents, was given $800,000 and four years of UO tuition and housing in the settlement.
Jennifer Morlok, a UO therapist who counseled the plaintiff after the alleged assault, and Karen Strokes, the former Executive Assistant to the Director of UOCTC, claimed that members of OUCTC’s management treated them unfairly and fired Strokes “based on their complaints of the U of O’s violations of law, rules, and/or regulation and on the basis of speech that is protected by the First Amendment,” according to the letter sent by Beth Creighton, a Portland attorney representing Morlok and Strokes.
The letter describes how Morlok was treated after refusing to withhold a letter describing the current treatment for Jane Doe, the alleged victim. Morlok sent the letter, and was met with anger from her managers.
“The tort claim presents a gross misinterpretation of the facts surrounding both individuals’ employment and the university will address them directly and swiftly though the legal process,” Tobin Klinger, a UO spokesperson, said in a prepared statement. “There is no evidence supporting any of the allegations. In fact, the university has worked diligently to find mutually beneficial solutions to challenges created by the very individuals who have taken this action.”
Klinger used Stroke’s termination from UOCTC as an example. “The University initiated transfer outside the University Counseling and Testing Center at Ms. Strokes’ request, but she has rejected the University’s offer of reassignment to an equivalent position at the same pay and benefits in another department. She is currently working in a temporary position performing special projects for the College of Arts and Sciences and will do so for the remainder of her current contract period.”