In the NEWS

Newsweek | By Fatma Khaled | November 5, 2021 A Portland, Oregon, landlord reportedly pleaded guilty on Thursday to pulling a gun on a Black tenant whom he called the n-word. The August 2020 incident caught on video showed Leon Drennan using racial slurs and pointing a handgun at Torrance Hunter, a resident at the Stewart Hotel in downtown Portland, local news station KTVB reported. Drennan owned the hotel at that time. During the Thursday hearing at Multnomah County Circuit

Willamette Week | By Tess Riski | October 20, 2021 The widow of a man whom a security guard killed outside Dream On Saloon in 2019 agreed Oct. 18 to a $200,000 settlement from the owners of the deep Southeast Portland nightclub. The club’s security guard shot and killed Eugene Pharr, an unarmed 42-year-old, in the parking lot on Jan. 15, 2019. “This is not a fair result—there are no ‘fair’ results in wrongful death cases,” says the Pharrs’ attorney,

Willamette Week | By Sophie Peel | September 14, 2021 A Portland Teamster filed a federal lawsuit Sept. 14 alleging assault and battery by a guard working for Huffmaster Crisis Response, a Michigan-based strike staffing company hired to police the strike at the Nabisco bakery in Northeast Portland. Jesse Dreyer, a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 162 union, says a Huffmaster agent beat him while he was picketing with members of the local bakers’ union outside the

The Oregonian | By Mike Rogoway | August 06, 2021 The former owners of Portland marijuana company Cura Cannabis have agreed to pay more than $500,000 to resolve a class-action lawsuit over false labeling on Cura’s Select brand of marijuana vapes. In January 2020, Cura agreed to pay Oregon a $110,000 “dishonest conduct” penalty for selling vapes that it claimed were 100% marijuana. In fact, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (now the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission) determined that the

Oregon Public Broadcasting | By Rebecca Ellis | August 5, 2021 A homeless artist who was forced out of Laurelhurst Park last week is demanding the city pay $10,000 after biohazard teams sent to dismantle the large encampment in Southeast Portland allegedly threw out one of her paintings. Local attorney Michael Fuller filed a tort claim, or a notice of his intent to sue, Wednesday on behalf of his client Marge Pettitt against the city and Rapid Response Bio Clean,

KATU 2 News | By Joe English | August 04, 2021 The City of Portland could be looking at another lawsuit over the way it has handled property seized during homeless camp sweeps. This comes after a big sweep at Laurelhurst Park last week. According to an attorney and homeless advocate, personal property got destroyed when it should have been saved after the camp sweep. Earlier this year, Attorney Michael Fuller filed a class-action lawsuit for four clients who say

Tigard Life | By Josh Kulla | August 3, 2021 A class action lawsuit has been filed against the owner of a Tigard apartment complex that is planning to end its involvement in the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. The lawsuit was filed June 29 in Multnomah County Circuit Court and claims that Mission Rock Residential, the Denver-based firm that manages the Woodspring Apartments, misled tenants into believing the complex would remain, as it had been for many

Portland Tribune | By Zane Sparling | August 03, 2021 A local lawyer claims he has ironclad proof that belongings taken during a recent campsite sweep in Portland were unlawfully dumped in the trash. Michael Fuller, who made a last‐ditch legal maneuver last week to halt the clearing of tents from Laurelhurst Park, says he surreptitiously attached Apple AirTag tracking devices to 16 personal items with permission from several campers ahead of the clean-up by city contractor Bio Clean. Now,

Willamette Week | By Sophie Peel | July 28, 2021 The family of a Portland homeless woman who died two years ago following a sweep of her campsite filed a court notice today stating they plan to sue a city contractor for her wrongful death. In the filing, the husband and son of Debby Ann Beaver allege that the contractor removed medication in her tent that could have saved her life. The July 28 filing in Multnomah County Circuit Court

The Oregonian | By April Rubin | July 21, 2021 A Portland-area man has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against a nonprofit organization based in Sandy, saying it fired him after he warned agency leaders they were misusing COVID-19 relief funds. Paul Prado was hired to work for AntFarm, a nonprofit that specializes in helping youth in need, on June 9 after he requested rent relief from the organization himself, he said. Prado started out filled with idealism by his employer’s