A Lane County resident who won a $1.5 million jury verdict against the Oregon Department of Transportation is suing the agency again — this time claiming ODOT rescinded a job offer in retaliation for his previous legal victory.
Steven Templin of Pleasant Hill filed a complaint April 10 in Lane County Circuit Court, alleging ODOT passed him over for an engineering position because of his whistleblower history with the agency. The complaint seeks more than $2.4 million in damages.
In 2024, Templin applied for the position of Statewide Structure Quality Engineer, a technical lead engineer who assists with the statewide bridge construction program, his lawsuit said. He said his application highlighted "15 years of experience with ODOT working on bridge and highway structural construction."
Templin's lawsuit says that when interviewed for the position, he was asked numerous questions about his previous lawsuit, which the complaint alleges is in violation of ODOT's written policy that all candidates must be asked the same questions.
Templin said he answered the questions anyway, and a hiring manager later verbally offered him the job and provided him a compensation offer,which he accepted,according to the complaint.
But once ODOT leadership was...
EXCLUSIVE: Friends of Nicola Peltz Beckham have spoken out, claiming that recent media "attacks" and "false claims" about the actress are becoming excessive and unfair Comments 3am 21:01, 21 Jun 20...