Dec. 24—A former paramedic firefighter at the Knappa Fire District is suing for more than $5 million, alleging she experienced gender-based discrimination and harassment at work.

Amy Lenz joined the fire district in 2003 and served as an emergency medical services officer.

Her claims against the fire district were the basis of a state Bureau of Labor and Industries report issued in December 2020. The bureau found substantial evidence that the fire district engaged in an unlawful employment practice, including subjecting Lenz to "disparate treatment and a hostile work environment based on her sex."

The Bureau of Labor and Industries declined to press charges last summer. Lenz is pursuing a lawsuit with Portland-based Dolan Law Group PC.

According to Lenz's complaint, filed in Circuit Court in December, she had reached a "breaking point" in fall 2018 with a male supervisor who "subjected her to constant harassment on the basis of her gender."

"This occurred on every single call where they both responded, which happened on at least a weekly basis," the complaint said. He also harassed her "in front of (fire district) cadets, volunteers, and other officers. None of the witnesses ever intervened."

The supervisor allegedly called her demeaning and sexist names, which included references to her weight. He allegedly voiced the view, to both Lenz and a female colleague, that women "do not belong in the fire service, that women are too stupid, and that women cannot do the job like men can," the complaint said.

According to both the state report and the complaint, Lenz repeatedly told then-Chief Paul Olheiser about her supervisor's behavior, but the chief did not take corrective action. Meanwhile, Lenz's supervisor did not let up. At one point, the fire district brought in an attorney to discuss topics like harassment, reporting and retaliation with Lenz's supervisor, Olheiser, the board and volunteers, the complaint said, but the board did not attend.

Lenz said in an interview with The Astorian that she sought help through the channels available to her at the fire district. "I tried doing it the right way, and I was blown off," she said.

In addition, Lenz said she was denied opportunities for career advancement that were extended to men, a claim backed up by the state report.

According to fire district policy, Lenz should have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant when she became an emergency medical services officer in 2005. All of Knappa's male officers had received rankings.

Lenz requested an executive session with the fire district's board in March 2019 to discuss her ongoing concerns about safety issues and her supervisor's behavior. During a heated exchange between Lenz and Olheiser, the complaint said, the chief said he would punish her for her role in dysfunction that allegedly occurred when Knappa crew were deployed to the Camp fire in Paradise, California, in 2018.

The fire district soon suspended Lenz from conflagration fires, then replaced her as emergency medical services officer without notifying her, the Bureau of Labor and Industries report said.

Fire Chief Kurt Donaldson, who stepped into the role when Olheiser retired in 2019, said the fire district does not comment on pending litigation.

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