Deschutes deputy receives $22,500 in lawsuit settlement
Deschutes County has paid $22,500 to settle a lawsuit filed by a sheriff's deputy who alleged the county did not follow a state law mandating preference for veterans when making promotions.
Deputy David Crump received the settlement this week, county officials confirmed.
Crump claimed in his lawsuit that he submitted the necessary documents to prove he was a veteran in good standing when seeking a promotion in 2017.
He alleged that he was not given preference, as required, because the county notified him that he did not submit a Deschutes County preference form in time.
In 2017, when he was a corrections deputy, Crump applied for the patrol deputy promotion position.
The state of Oregon mandates that public agencies grant preference to veterans and disabled veterans who seek promotion to a civil service position.
Crump claimed because he did not submit the county preference form, he was not granted the 10 points from the sheriff's office for being a disabled veteran.
Sean Riddell , Crump's attorney, said Thursday the preference form was not necessary under the law.
" To be a qualified veteran, you either have to produce your DD 214, your discharge paperwork showing you have an honorable discharge, and/or your VA (Veterans Administration) award letter " showing you're a disabled veteran, Riddell said. " Mr. Crump submitted both of those, and the county said during the process they did not give him the statutory veterans' preference. "
Sheriff Shane Nelson told NewsChannel 21 Thursday the preference form is required by the county's human resource department and is separate from the hiring process of the sheriffs' office.
He said he has asked them to stop using that form.
" This lawsuit is about what Deschutes County human resources did or did not fail to do, " Nelson said. " The county's human resource determines if an applicant is going to get veterans preference points. They then notify our office if that applicant is going to be eligible for preference points.
" In this particular case, when I found out they were requiring a form to get the veterans' preference points, I asked them to stop using that form for our processes, " the sheriff added.
KTVZ 2019
