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Jive Software's downtown Portland office.

(Mike Rogoway/The Oregonian)

A former Jive Software manager sued the company last week alleging sexual harassment and a hostile workplace. The suit indicates the manager was himself fired after sexual harassment accusations were made against him.

Allegations of gender discrimination and sexual harassment have long persisted in the tech industry, which is dominated by young, male workers. Though many complaints focus on the treatment of women, the lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court was brought by a male worker.

Tony Parsons seeks as much as $800,000 in damages related to stress and economic hardship, according to the lawsuit, which also names two of his supervisors.

"We are aware of Mr. Parson's complaint," Jive said in a written statement. "We strongly dispute all of the allegations and plan to vigorously defend the litigation. We are confident that we will ultimately prevail."

Jive Software makes social networking software for businesses, to connect employees with one another and with customers. The company's headquarters is in California, but its largest office is in downtown Portland, where it employs 200 or more.

In Parsons' suit, he writes that soon after Jive hired him in August 2015 he found signs in employee cubicles with sexual innuendo. Parsons said Jive tolerated the signs, that one of his managers showed him an offensive video, and that another manager made a practice of shooting Nerf darts at employees' crotches.

The suit said that Jive's human resources department was unresponsive when he complained, and that he was fired in December 2015 over unspecified allegations of sexual harassment against him.

(Note: An attorney bringing the suit on Parsons' behalf runs the Portland law firm Rogoway Law. The attorney and firm have no connection to the author of this article.)

-- Mike Rogoway

mrogoway@oregonian.com

503-294-7699

@rogoway