KOIN 6 News | By Gabrielle Karol | May 14, 2018
Chrystal Devore said she first started feeling her manager at Umpqua Bank was unfriendly to working mothers when she was about to take maternity leave with her third child.
But Devore said the problems got worse after she took parental leave to care for two of her children, who had fallen ill.
“Everything was different when I came back,” Devore said. “My schedule was changed.”
According to a complaint filed Monday with the Multnomah County Circuit Court, Devore claims she was fired from her job as an associate with Umpqua Bank after contacting Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI). Devore said she felt that internal complaints at Umpqua Bank about her direct manager were going nowhere.
“When I first started, I loved going to work and loved seeing my customers. But it got to the point where I dreaded going to work every day — it was that feeling of what’s next,” Devore said.
She said her supervisor, Sarah Kingsborough, often moved her to different stations around the bank, right after Devore had gotten set up in a workspace. Devore said that other women she worked with noticed she was being treated badly but were scared to speak up, for fear of losing their own jobs.
The complaint says Umpqua Bank Senior Vice President and Regional Manager Terri Browning tried to “gaslight” Devore in attempt to make the mother feel as if the retaliation and discrimination she experienced was made up.
“She said, ‘Do you think there’s any chance you’re making this up in your head?’” Devore said. “I was blown away – I was shocked. I said, ‘I wouldn’t have filed a BOLI complaint if I didn’t have emails, text messages and witnesses to prove what I was saying. This isn’t something I’m making something.”
Devore said she was then told to leave the Garibaldi branch immediately and was only allowed to collect her keys and her purse. She said the experience of being escorted out in front of co-workers and customers made her feel as if she were a “criminal.”
In a statement, Umpqua Bank told KOIN 6 News, “We’ve received the complaint and are completing a thorough investigation in response. Based on initial findings, we believe the complaints are without merit.”
Devore’s attorney, Michael Fuller, provided a report of a polygraph examination. The report showed that polygraph examiner C.W. Bryant found Devore was being truthful when she answered questions regarding her meeting with Browning after Devore filed the BOLI complaint.
BOLI confirmed to KOIN 6 News it has an open investigation looking into the issues Devore reported to the bureau.
Devore is suing for $1 in nominal damages and $2,469,000 in punitive damages, which the complaint says represents 1% of Umpqua Bank’s yearly net earnings. Fuller says that his client’s 30% of any punitive damages received would be donated to the Oregon Attorney General to be deposited in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Account.
