Laura Chancellor was the superintendent of the Oak Knoll Golf Course in Ashland until last June, when she quit her job after filing a lawsuit last year against the Ashland parks department.
Her suit individually names what she calls 鈥淭he Four Horsemen,鈥� a group of coworkers and friends including the department鈥檚 director, Michael Black.
鈥淭hey do no wrong,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey do whatever they want because they have Michael on their side.鈥�
In the , Chancellor said when one of the members of the group was first hired in 2011, he鈥檇 say things including 鈥渉omosexuals should be hung on the cross and burned.鈥� Chancellor identifies as lesbian.
"I just kept trying to trudge forward thinking 鈥極kay, this is gonna get better, it鈥檚 gonna get better.鈥� It just kept getting worse.鈥�
She said another member of this so-called 鈥渂oy鈥檚 club鈥� would complain when new women were hired.
鈥淗e had a female employee working for him and he gave her to me,鈥� Chancellor said. 鈥淗is words to me were, 鈥榃e can鈥檛 be ourselves when she鈥檚 around.鈥欌��
Chancellor is the latest former employee to sue the Ashland parks department. She鈥檚 seeking almost $1 million for alleged harassment, sexism and bullying throughout much of her time in Ashland.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very stressful, it鈥檚 caused me some severe anxiety to get through this,鈥� Chancellor said. 鈥淏ecause it was 19 years, I just kept trying to trudge forward thinking 鈥極kay, this is gonna get better, it鈥檚 gonna get better.鈥� It just kept getting worse.鈥�
Ashland Parks Director Michael Black declined to speak for this story and did not reply to a subsequent email outlining the reporting in this story and requesting comment.
Chancellor said when Black was hired in 2014, he allowed harassment to continue unchecked.
She said her job paid well, and she didn鈥檛 want to quit because her coworkers were bullying her. She wanted leadership to fix things.
Jill Mullen-Feely was also mentioned in Chancellor鈥檚 original lawsuit filing. Mullen-Feely was hired in 2014. The complaint said she was going to file a grievance against one of the members of the 鈥渂oys club,鈥� but she got sick and passed away before she could.
鈥淭hey would say things about Jill and me,鈥� Chancellor said. 鈥淏ecause when Jill was alive she was a lesbian also and she worked in forestry. She just kept her head down and stayed away from them.鈥�
Ann Thayer is another former employee at the department. She started as an intern in 1999 and eventually took over as the city鈥檚 horticulturist.
鈥淢y supervisor, he explained to me and said in these words, 鈥楾he tendency for the crew is to dismiss women as they are not qualified to make decisions despite their qualifications,鈥欌�� Thayer said.
Thayer said she quit her job after 15 years because of systemic bullying and sexism she faced at work. When she complained to higher ups, she said, she was sent to the nature center where only other women worked.
Neither Thayer nor Chancellor ever filed a formal complaint with the city鈥檚 human resources department because they said they believed it wouldn鈥檛 help. Chancellor said her visits with the city鈥檚 HR director weren鈥檛 productive.
鈥淚 was told, when I came in the last time to complain about Michael and the 鈥渂oys club,鈥� I was told if I didn鈥檛 like it, I should look for another job,鈥� Chancellor said.
Lack of oversight in the department
Ashlanders are fiercely protective of their parks. the elected parks commission in 1908, independent of the mayor and city council. The commission controls its own finances, staffing and park lands in Ashland.
That decision in the early 1900s insulated the parks department from oversight by the rest of the city government.
Cathy Shaw was the first female mayor of Ashland and served three terms throughout the 1990s. She鈥檚 been a strong supporter of the parks commission, which she said was designed to protect the parks from interference.
鈥淟et鈥檚 say, for example, if Ashland fell on very difficult times financially鈥攕ome are saying we are now, I don鈥檛 know if we are or not鈥攖hey鈥檙e not gonna cut police or fire or streets or water. The first thing that鈥檒l be cut are Ashland鈥檚 parks,鈥� Shaw said.
When Shaw was mayor, she passed the city鈥檚 special tax on prepared foods as a way to raise money to buy more land for parks.
This separation of oversight in the parks department from the rest of the city has enabled the harassment to take place, according to Christine Dodson, the former program director of the senior center which is part of the department. She said parks commissioners keep Director Michael Black in power despite claims of harassment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 because he does what they want, I think,鈥� said Dodson. 鈥淎nd he caters to them.鈥�
Dodson sued the parks department in 2018 over claims of wrongful termination and defamation. Dodson started working for the City of Ashland in 2003 as a senior program outreach specialist. She took over as the senior program director in 2007.
In her legal complaint, Dodson said she always received high praise and excellent scores on performance reviews until around June 2015, when the city told Dodson they鈥檇 made a mistake with her payroll and had been underpaying her for eight years.
Instead of offering her back pay, Dodson said Black offered one week of extra vacation time. She hired a lawyer and after months of negotiation reached an agreement with the city, according to the lawsuit.
In August 2017, Dodson was told she and the rest of the paid senior program staff were being laid off to accomplish a planned department reorganization.
Dodson鈥檚 lawsuit argued Commissioner Michael Gardiner was pushing Black to fire her.
She then began legal proceedings and eventually settled the lawsuit with the city for $538,000.
Taxpayers don鈥檛 directly pay for the costs of lawsuits. The city is insured by Citycounty Insurance Services, or CIS, an insurance group formed by Oregon鈥檚 cities and counties.
Following Chancellor鈥檚 lawsuit being filed in 2022, CIS told Ashland they were mandating an additional $100,000 liability insurance deductible for employment-related claims.
According to a 2022 memo from the city鈥檚 interim financial officer Sabrina Cotta, this new mandate was because of the parks department's unique level of autonomy.
CIS said this means they need to be prepared to defend both the city and the parks department with separate legal counsel when faced with employment-related lawsuits.
In the memo, CIS said there were previous legal claims that were more expensive to manage because of this unique autonomy of the parks department, and they see the current model as more risky and problematic.
Because the city won鈥檛 comment on ongoing legal matters, it鈥檚 unknown if Laura Chancellor鈥檚 lawsuit would count as an employment related claim, and if the city would have to pay the $100,000 deductible before CIS steps in to pay for damages or a settlement. Chancellor鈥檚 lawyer, Tom Dimitri, said he suspects that鈥檚 the case.
Attempts to change the commission
Voters recently had an opportunity to change the way the parks department was managed.
A November ballot measure brought forward by City Manager Joe Lessard would have turned over staffing responsibilities for the parks department to the city. But voters upheld the parks commission鈥檚 powers by an almost two-to-one margin.
Dodson said the campaign against the ballot measure was strong, with some residents alleging the city manager was trying to ruin the parks department.
Lessard and the City of Ashland also declined to speak for this story, citing ongoing litigation.
Now that she鈥檚 working in Washington State, Ann Thayer said she鈥檚 never seen a city use the same independent parks commission model like Ashland does.
鈥淭he City of Ashland is very small,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t kind of surprises me that they have this model in effect.鈥�
Thayer said many residents are resistant to folding the parks department back into the city.
鈥淚 think they鈥檙e really stuck in this鈥攖hat it鈥檚 always been this way,鈥� Thayer said. 鈥淚t just doesn鈥檛 make sense to separate them when you have HR that鈥檚 supposed to represent the whole city and parks.鈥�
Four out of the five parks commissioners did not respond to a request for comment. In an email, Parks Commissioner Rick Landt declined to be interviewed, citing the litigation, but offered a statement, 鈥淚 and Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission are committed to a welcoming and supporting workplace for all employees.鈥�
Defending the parks commission
Former Mayor Cathy Shaw said her conversations with the parks director and the commissioners have always been respectful. She added the commissioners are elected just like the city council.
鈥淭hese are hardworking people that believe in what they鈥檙e doing, and are doing what we want them to do, what the city council has asked them to do or the voters have asked them to do through the ballot box,鈥� Shaw said.
While Shaw doesn鈥檛 currently allege she experienced harassment from parks department staff, she said she faced sexism from other city workers while she was mayor.
鈥淚 remember one police officer,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e were meeting about something and he put his hand on my leg. I was really taken aback. And I just looked at his hand and I looked at him, didn鈥檛 say a word and he removed it. It was just really inappropriate, dude.鈥�
Shaw said her experience as mayor was different from regular employees. She said she never saw the benefit of calling attention to sexism.
鈥淚f somebody felt that they were being singled out because of gender or sexual orientation, I would urge them, say something if it bothers you,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 bother me, clearly, in the way that it鈥檚 probably bothering some others.鈥�
Hopeful for change
The employee manual for the parks department includes a non-discrimination policy. If harassment does happen, managers are required to take immediate action, including following up to ensure it doesn鈥檛 happen again.
Laura Chancellor said she鈥檚 suing the city because she wants the parks department to be held accountable.
鈥淚 have hope that, when they hire the next woman, there鈥檚 an opportunity for her to stay here and be successful,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have hope that they will abide by their rules in their employee handbook that clearly stipulates harassment, discrimination of sexual orientation, all those things will be followed; they followed none of them.鈥�
Voters in Ashland are making more decisions about the future of the parks department in a May 16 special election.
This time, it鈥檚 about funding. The city council is asking voters to consider committing all of the money from the city鈥檚 special tax on prepared foods to the parks department. That tax brings in around $2-3 million annually. Right now, the department only gets around a quarter of that money.
Ballot measure 15-214 would also extend the food and beverage tax through 2040.
But, passing that measure doesn鈥檛 mean the parks department would get more money. According to Ashland Mayor Tonya Graham, any increase in funding for the department through the tax would be offset by a decrease from the city鈥檚 general fund.
Some think of Ashland as a progressive town. Laura Chancellor said the culture of the parks department doesn鈥檛 fit that reputation.
鈥淚 just think that they have an underlying problem that鈥檚 making them look bad, to be honest with you,鈥� Chancellor said. 鈥淭hey teach and they preach equality. And to have a situation with one of their biggest entities, it puts a black eye on them, in my opinion.鈥�
Chancellor hopes her lawsuit will show the city it needs to make things better for employees if it wants to live up to Ashland鈥檚 values.
Correction: a previous version of this story referenced several additional unnamed individuals describing harassment within the Ashland parks department. That unsubstantiated reference has been removed. The phrase 鈥減attern of lawsuits鈥� has also been changed in the headline.
