A former employee who claims she and others were discriminated against and laid off for calling out their colleague’s inappropriate and unlawful conduct has sued University of Oregon for $550,000.
Cherokee Staples, former director of business operations, was terminated from UO in June 2025. She had been working in UO budget and financial services in various capacities since 2011.
Her complaint, filed on March 11, states she was promoted to the director of business operations position in 2023. Shortly after settling into her new role, UO performed a national search for her direct supervisor, selecting Richard Menard, who became the senior director in December 2023. Above both Menard and Staples was Associate Vice President of Administrative Services Jon Marchetta.
Suit alleges concerning behavior
Starting in March 2024, Staples spoke to Marchetta about concerns she had regarding Menard’s “mismanagement, gross waste of funds, and abuse of authority,” according to the suit.
Between March 2024 and October 2024, she and other colleagues raised numerous objections about Menard allegedly violating law and UO policy, including hiring a personal friend as a consultant, instructing Staples to process a $50,000 stipend due to a personal commitment and misinforming staff multiple times about Equal Pay Act regulations.
The complaint also alleges Menard made racist and sexist comments. Staples and three other peers sent a joint memo to Marchetta about comments Menard had made during an...
Regulators intensify enforcement against online misinformation, opening dozens of investigations and warning of severe penalties for misuse of digital platforms MALAYSIAN authorities have stepped u...