portland.city.hall.aug.12.2013.JPG

A city employee claims a co-worker harassed her because of her Christian beliefs.

(Brian Feulner/The Oregonian)

A city of Portland employee claims she was repeatedly harassed by a co-worker because of her Christian beliefs, according to a lawsuit nearing trial in U.S. District Court.

KellyMarie Griffin, who works for Portland Parks & Recreation, claims that Portland officials discriminated and retaliated against her because of her religious beliefs.

Griffin began working for Portland in 1991 and is a self-described Christian with “strong religious convictions,” according to the lawsuit. Problems began in October 2009, when Griffin transferred to the Parks Bureau’s facility at Mt. Tabor and a co-worker began harassing her, the lawsuit claims.

“I am tired of your Christian attitude,” the lawsuit quotes the coworker, Theresa Lareau, as saying. Griffin also claims the co-worker told her, “I’m going to file a complaint against you the next time I sneeze and you say ‘bless you.’”

Reached by The Oregonian on Tuesday, Lareau denied making those statements. "That kind of stuff is not true," she said.

Later, according to the lawsuit, the employee whom Griffin accuses of making the statements filed a stalking order against Griffin. The order was eventually dismissed, the lawsuit says.

Griffin claims that she complained to supervisors but Portland didn’t take sufficient actions to stop the harassment. In May 2012, the lawsuit claims, city officials planned to cut Griffin’s position.

City pay records indicate that Griffin kept working, earning about $46,000 in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Messages left with the city were not immediately returned. Griffin’s lawyer, Daniel Snyder, declined to comment, other than to confirm Griffin still works for the city.

A pretrial conference is scheduled Friday. Griffin, who filed the lawsuit in September 2012, is seeking damages for her emotional pain and suffering, among other things. The trial is scheduled for November.

-- Brad Schmidt