Oregon Lottery Director Jack Roberts said he was fired by Gov. Kate Brown after he protected an employee who claimed a supervisor harassed her. Brown cited “management problems” for his dismissal.
Brown is free to fire and hire state agency directors as she wishes. Her communications director said unspecified “management problems” prompted Brown to seek a new lottery director and denied Roberts’ firing was connected to his putting the supervisor on leave.
Roberts, a Republican and former state labor commissioner, agreed Brown had the right to dismiss him and is not trying to get the job back.
But he said the governor’s office questioned his management only once: When Brown’s chief of staff, Kristin Leonard, asked him Monday afternoon to reinstate the employee accused of harassment. The next day, without further discussion, Leonard told Roberts to resign or he would be fired, Roberts said.
(READ MORE: Oregon Live)
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