By the Albany Democrat-Herald and Eugene Register-Guard
CORVALLIS — Marc Thielman, Republican candidate for Oregon governor and former superintendent of the Alsea School District, ran the organization like a “boys club,” treating women unequally and subjecting them to sexual harassment, according to a lawsuit by the district’s elementary school principal.
Alsea Elementary School Principal Shannon Rice is seeking more than $3.7 million from the district for the alleged hostile work environment, sexual harassment, gender discrimination and whistleblower retaliation she said she experienced while working in the district for nine years.
The rural school district was recently put into the limelight when the school board voted to make mask wearing optional two months before the statewide mask mandate was lifted. In turn, the district’s COVID-19 relief funding froze, and it now faces a $43,000 fine from Oregon Occupational Safety and Health.
In her complaint, filed March 22 in Benton County Circuit Court, Rice describes an unprofessional work environment perpetuated by Thielman, who resigned Feb. 22 to focus on his campaign for Oregon governor. On Monday, the district petitioned to have the case moved to federal court.
The lawsuit does not name Thielman as a defendant. Still, it paints him as the primary harasser who condoned male employees behaving similarly.
Thielman told the Democrat-Herald last week said he had not been made aware of the lawsuit. He referred to Rice as a “serial complaint filer” and said that past complaints against her will show that she was the one who created a hostile work environment.
Rice’s complaint alleges that Thielman “bragged about the purportedly large size of his genitalia, his accompanying sexual prowess, made sexual jokes, inquired or commented on Plaintiff and other women’s sex lives, laced conversations with sexual innuendo, made sexually suggestive comments regarding women’s physical appearances, and engaged in other like behaviors” on an almost daily basis.
Other men picked up on it, the lawsuit states.
“Defendant Thielman set the tone and model of behavior for male employees and students, while simultaneously communicating to female employees and students that acceptance of such behavior was a term and condition of employment and custom,” according to the lawsuit.
The complaint also details how Thielman allegedly campaigned for governor during work hours, turned the school district into a “boys club” and acted as if it was “no big deal” when a district employee was arrested for having sex with an underage female student.
“Over time, the work environment developed into a place where male employees were permitted to mistreat, intimidate, ignore, undermine, override and harass female employees with impunity,” the complaint reads.
Rice alleges Thielman’s behavior against her escalated after she requested equally compensation as male employees for the administrative work she was performing and informally complained that the school district was violating Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination.
After multiple attempts to get the school district to address the “differential treatment of male and female student athletes,” Rice filed a formal written complaint outlining 14 specific examples of unequal treatment, the lawsuit reads.
Rice alleges she faced retaliation for filing her complaint about Thielman, including co-workers mocking and filing complaints against her and being “shut out of communication from the board or other administrators.” Rice wrote a formal complaint against Thielman and emailed it to the school board Feb. 14. The next day her husband, Travis Rice, also an employee of the district, filed a complaint as well and was placed on administrative leave without explanation.
Soon after the Rices filed their complaints, school employee Nathan Roberts filed a complaint against Shannon Rice, which she was led to believe was retaliatory. The school board then investigated Roberts’ complaint and “treated it serious,” but not her original complaint, according to the court document.
On March 10, the school board renewed the contract of every employee listed for renewal except for Rice. She received written notice of her non-renewal March 17. As a result, Rice’s employment with the district will end June 30.
“Plaintiff was watching the meeting as it occurred via zoom and was stunned – as Plaintiff had absolutely no prior notice her contract was going to be non-renewed, there had been no investigation into any complaints lodged against her, and there was nothing on in the board meeting materials or board discussion indicating she might be non-renewed,” the complaint reads.
Can almost guarantee these complainants including Rice are hardcore Democrats upset a couple months ago with the superintendent wanting to free his students from useless mask mandates. The face mask has become the religious symbol of Democrats and obedience.