A Lake Oswego company called Navex Global faces a nearly $150,000 state penalty for allegedly firing an employee who missed work when called to jury duty in California. Navex denies the allegation and said it will fight the proposed sanction.

Navex fired Sharae Epperheimer in 2016, according to a proposed order from the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. She filed a complaint with the bureau's civil rights division soon afterward.

According to the state's findings, Epperheimer lived in Oregon but had maintained California residency as part of a program at Western Oregon University to bring out-of-state students to the school.

The bureau's proposed order indicates that Los Angeles County had refused Epperheimer's requests to be excused from jury duty. The state said Navex had documented no other performance issues before firing her, allegedly over her absence for jury duty. Epperheimer subsequently found a new job with the state of Oregon.

The bureau concluded that that Epperheimer's firing violated Oregon laws that require employers to excuse workers for jury service. It proposed penalizing the company $120,000 for Epperheimer's "emotional and mental suffering," plus more than $28,000 to cover lost wages and expenses.

Navex said its policies not only allow employees to miss work for jury duty but pays them during their absence. The company declined comment on this specific case but said it "categorically denies" that it would fire anyone for meeting civic responsibilities.

"We stand behind the strength and fairness of our human resources policies and integrity of our decisions associated with employment matters," Navex said in a written statement. "We vehemently challenge the finding and will appeal this decision.

Navex, ironically, sells technology and services to help large organizations comply with government laws and regulations. The privately held company employs 1,177, including 279 at its Lake Oswego headquarters.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699