Pacific University will pay $99,000 to the Oregon Labor Bureau, turn over personnel records to former employees and change its record-sharing practices as part of its settlement in a workers rights case.
It’s one of the largest settlements ever negotiated on behalf of the bureau’s Wage and Hour Division, communications director Rachel Mann said in an email.
The bureau last fall told Pacific it would owe up to $843,000 in civil penalties after seven former employees complained that the private university had refused to allow employees to see their personnel files as required by state law. The university protested the decision, then announced last week it had settled the case, a development first reported by the Forest Grove News-Times.
The bureau found that Pacific violated a law that allows employees to review their own personnel files. In addition to fining the school, the bureau is requiring it to turn over additional personnel records to four former employees and amend its policies to make it easier for employees to review records.
Pacific admits no wrongdoing, spokesperson Blake Timm said in a statement.
“We remain steadfast in upholding our students’ and employees’ privacy rights as mandated by federal and state law and Pacific’s policies,” Timm wrote. “This resolution reflects a pragmatic and favorable outcome for Pacific University.”
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