Update: The Portland Bureau of Transportation released a statement Tuesday on the proposed settlement. The statement can be read in full here, or at the bottom of this post.

The city of Portland is finalizing an $80,000 settlement to end a lawsuit by a former employee who alleged “extreme hazing” by city transportation workers.

Adam Rawlins claimed in U.S. District Court that he was subjected to verbal and physical hazing for several months in 2016, including one incident where Rawlins was photographed while bound by zip ties and duct tape inside a city shed.

A consultant later hired by the city found a “don’t snitch” culture within the maintenance operation of the Portland Bureau of Transportation. But city officials said the incident appeared to be isolated.

Rawlins sued the city last year in state court seeking $250,000 before moving his case to federal court in pursuit of $660,000. His attorney, Benjamin Rosenthal, planned to argue that hazing had been a longstanding practice within with transportation bureau.

Rosenthal declined to comment Sunday.

The settlement heads to the Portland City Council for approval Wednesday. The city’s risk management division found that “there is risk the city may be found liable.”

Neither Tracy Reeve, Portland’s top attorney, nor Chris Warner, Portland’s transportation director, immediately responded to calls or emails for comment Sunday.

According to the lawsuit, Rawlins’ coworkers called him derogatory names on a daily basis and subjected him to various physical attacks.

Among other things, city employees used an air compressor to shoot metal screws, wooden strips, popcorn kernels and hard candy at Rawlins, according to his lawsuit. Rawlins also was required to sit in the back of a city truck while a coworker “punched and contorted the nipples” on Rawlins’ chest, the suit claims.

Rawlins resigned from his city job as a utility worker earlier this year.

The Portland Transportation Bureau released the following statement Tuesday:

“The 2016 incident was an egregious violation of the City’s rules for professional conduct in the workplace. Following this incident, we investigated what occurred and that resulted in five employees being disciplined. We hired a consultant to conduct a full assessment of the workplace culture in Maintenance Operations. While this behavior was found to be an isolated occurrence, the assessment revealed a need to ensure that everyone feels safe reporting unprofessional conduct.

Since the assessment, we have welcomed a new leader of Maintenance Operations who is dedicated to transforming the workplace culture.

We have taken many steps to implement the assessment’s recommendations, including:

Restructuring the organization and hiring new division managers to improve our capacity to supervise, train and support our employees. These managers have been tasked with building a new culture of accountability in the organization. To that end, they are creating standard operating procedures for the various aspects of Maintenance Operations work. These procedures will make it easier to ensure that employees and managers are held to the same clear and consistent standards.

We have also convened a Workplace Improvement Committee. One of the assessment’s central recommendations, the committee is comprised of 14 employees from all levels of the organization and is meeting on a regular basis to improve culture and morale at Maintenance Operations. The committee is using the recommendations in the culture assessment as a guide to prioritize issues and provide solutions to problems. Subcommittees will also be formed to work on issues and specific projects.

Every day, hundreds of PBOT maintenance employees put in long hours, working hard to serve the public and collaborate with their colleagues. PBOT is committed to maintaining a workplace where all employees are treated fairly and with respect and dignity.”

-- Brad Schmidt

bschmidt@oregonian.com

503-294-7628

@_brad_schmidt