UO Pays Former Employees $425K in Settlement

The former employees claimed they were pushed out of their positions by administrators for criticizing the university.

July 20, 2016 CS Staff

The University of Oregon paid two former health center employees $425,000 July 17 to settle a lawsuit involving student counseling records.

The plaintiffs, former Counseling Center executive assistant Karen Stokes and former therapist Jennifer Morlok, had spoken out against the school accessing the records in 2015.

Both women subsequently left their positions with the school under disputed circumstances later that year, reports dailyemerald.com.

Stokes claimed she was “forced to leave her position” by administrators while Morlok resigned because of what she claimed was a hostile work environment.

“[The settlement] will allow all parties to move forward and avoid years of expensive litigation,” says UO Spokesman Tobin Klinger.

The university denied any wrongdoing when it accessed the counseling records of a student who had filed a lawsuit against the school in 2015. The unidentified student claimed the school mishandled her sexual assault case after finding three student athletes responsible for her rape but not alerting police. The student later settled her lawsuit with the school for $800,000 and a four year scholarship.

The three former basketball players involved in that alleged rape, Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin, have also filed lawsuits against the school.

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