Lane County Commissioner Sues County, Three Colleagues Over Unspecified Dispute

District 2 Lane County Commissioner David Loveall filed a 35-page federal civil rights lawsuit March 19 against Lane County, County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky, and fellow commissioners Heather Buch, Pat Farr and Laurie Trieger, asking a federal judge to reverse a censure the board imposed on him earlier this month and award monetary damages against the named individuals personally.

The complaint, case number 6:26-cv-00534, was filed at 4:03 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Eugene and assigned to Judge Michael J. McShane. It invokes 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, the federal civil rights statute, and alleges violations of Loveall's First Amendment free speech and free exercise of religion rights, his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, and Oregon's Public Meetings Law on multiple occasions in February and March. Loveall is represented by attorney Jill Gibson of Gibson P.C. No jury trial was requested.

The lawsuit directly targets the board's March 3 vote to censure Loveall by a 3-1 margin, with Loveall himself abstaining. The complaint argues the entire process that led to the censure was constitutionally defective.

"Members of Lane County government have engaged in a coordinated scheme to silence and penalize my political and religious speech in an attempt to affect the upcoming election in May," Loveall said in a statement. "This cynical effort ignored constitutional rights, open meeting laws, and due process in an unrelenting effort to achieve a seemingly predetermined political outcome. I want to make one thing absolutely clear: I will not back down from standing up for and representing my constituents."

The lawsuit states its purpose plainly: "Plaintiff brings this lawsuit in order to protect his constitutional right to free speech, right to free exercise of religion, right to due process, right to be free from retaliation, and to enforce Oregon's Public Meetings Law."

The complaint grew out of workplace misconduct allegations that county staff filed with the Lane County human resources department. Those complaints concerned Loveall's interactions with at least three employees, including Mokrohisky. An outside investigation commissioned by the county produced a summary that found many of the allegations were true and that Loveall had retaliated against staffers.

Among the specific findings cited in reporting on the investigation summary: Loveall entered Mokrohisky's office and told him to stop the complaints and to "tell the employees to f off," and threatened Mokrohisky's job. The investigation also identified a podcast appearance and other public statements as acts of retaliation against the employees. The underlying staff complaints included Loveall's use of religious language, specifically the words "blessings" and "kingdom work," when signing a birthday card, and his use of the word "stripper" to describe a community member. Loveall has said the "stripper" phrase did not originate with him.

Loveall's lawsuit contends the investigation itself was flawed because all of its retaliation findings stemmed from conduct connected to his exercise of speech. He repeatedly asked Mokrohisky to end the complaints against him; Mokrohisky subsequently filed his own complaints about Loveall's treatment of him.

On the open meetings allegations, the suit specifically claims the county made secret decisions on four occasions in violation of Oregon law. The complaint seeks declaratory relief establishing that his constitutional rights were violated, an injunction against further actions taken against him, monetary damages from the individual defendants in their personal capacities, and coverage of attorney fees and legal costs. The $405 filing fee was collected at the time the complaint was submitted.

None of the named defendants had responded publicly to the lawsuit as of press time.