A former Clark County Fire & Rescue employee alleges she was forced out of the department because she was married to another employee, despite the fact multiple related men have worked at the district without reproach.
In a notice for a tort claim, which are filed before formal lawsuits, attorney Robert S. Milesnick says his client, Jennifer Yager, is entitled to at least $970,000 in damages following her wrongful termination in 2015.
Failing a satisfactory resolution, he wrote, they intend to sue the district for discrimination and unlawful termination, among other claims.
According to the tort claim notice, Yager, 46, had been with the district for more than 19 years, and worked as a grant writer and district human resources director. In 2000, she married Dan Yager, another district employee.
According to the tort claim, District Commissioner Larry Bartel, during an executive session in April 2015, proposed implementing an anti-nepotism policy in order to keep the two from working together.
Then-Chief Dennis Mason researched such policies for the board, and found such a policy would be illegal to enforce retroactively.
Later that year, according to the claim, Mason presented a budget that proposed cutting some support staff, including the finance manager. Mason’s budget kept Jennifer Yager on as the district finance and human resources manager, a plan the board approved.
Later that summer, as the district was readjusting to losing its contract for fire services in the city of Battle Ground, Mason was let go by the board, and Ron Oliver was brought in as interim chief.
The tort filing says Oliver met individually with unionized employees and, among other questions, specifically asked about the Yagers.
In the notes from those meetings, Oliver reportedly wrote Jennifer Yager “needs to go,” according to the claims. In September 2015, Oliver told Yager her position was going to be cut in favor of a senior support spot for human resources. According to the tort claim, in the meeting, Oliver said some union members didn’t like that the Yagers both worked for the district, and that Commissioner Bartel had “tasked him with handling the situation” with the couple.
A couple of days later — even though Mason’s budget preserved Jennifer Yager’s job — Oliver told Yager her position was being cut for financial reasons, the claim states.
The senior human resources position was available, though it would be junior to her former job and include a pay cut, according to the claim. Still, she agreed to take the job.
In October, days after she accepted the job, Oliver told Jennifer Yager that her husband would take on the job of deputy chief for administrative services, making him her supervisor. Therefore, he said, she could no longer work at the district.
The tort claim also says the initial budget Oliver presented to the district board was more expensive than Mason’s, which retained Jennifer Yager. In addition, the claim says the staffing change moved another firefighter into the operations deputy chief position, a firefighter who, wrote Oliver in his notes, showed “no observed greatnesses, unknown potential.”
The claim also lists several Clark County Fire & Rescue firefighters who are brothers, brothers-in-law or fathers and sons, all who worked without incurring any kind of discipline.
Jennifer Yager resigned in mid-October 2015, having taken a more distant job with lower pay and fewer benefits.
John Nohr, Clark County Fire & Rescue’s current chief, declined to comment pending further consultation with the district’s attorney.
