Portland tenant sued over volunteer work during outbreak

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A homeowner in Portland who rents a room to a woman who has been volunteering at a homeless shelter during the coronavirus outbreak is suing the woman for potentially increasing her exposure to the virus.

Carole Lee, 77, has filed a $100,000 lawsuit against tenant Jeane Gaiennie. Lee also wants Gaiennie to be required to leave her home until the state declares the virus health emergency is over. Lee’s lawsuit was first reported by KGW.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Multnomah County Circuit Court, says Gaiennie has volunteered at one or more Portland homeless shelters and helped with a Union Gospel Mission search and rescue team.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Lee told her tenant that she felt imperiled, according to the lawsuit, but Gaiennie refused to stop helping out. Lee doesn’t feel safe in her home, according to the lawsuit.

Gaiennie said she moved to Oregon in 2017 and has volunteered for organizations including the Oregon Food Bank, Meals on Wheels People and Union Gospel Mission. Her volunteerism is not new.

“This is who I am,” she told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Gaiennie said she wears the best personal protective equipment she can while she’s volunteering.

She said her landlord has not requested that she wear personal protective equipment at home and that neither her landlord nor her housemates wear PPE there.