A former government official in Oregon was awarded $200,000 for the pain and suffering he endured while working.

According to Oregon Live, Emanuel Price filed a lawsuit in 2017 against the Multnomah County alleging he was fired after complaining about some Oregon police officers’ use of the N-word while he was making a presentation. Price was seeking no more than $400,000 in his lawsuit. At the time of its filing, he alleged he lost more than $70,000 in lost wages and that number increased during the trial.

 

According to the lawsuit, the officers who used the word were explaining a situation of bullying among kids and was describing the incident. That incident was a Mexican youth mispronouncing the word during a fight with a black youth. During the presentation, Price confronted the officers and they apologized, but he was still offended and complained to the human resources department. The officers told Price that there might be occasions for Price to use the word to describe real situations. There were attempts to resolve the issue, but the efforts were futile. The lawsuit states Price went on social media and publicized the situation. After he was directed to take down the posts, he started being excluded out of certain activities for work. Price was fired not long after.

 

According to the US Census Bureau, Multnomah County is almost 80% white, 6% black, 1.4% American Indian or Alaska Native, almost 8% Asian, 0.7 % Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 11.6% Hispanic, and mixed race 4.6 %. The population size of the county is just over 807,555. Some of the cities that make up Multnomah County include Portland, Gresham, Lake Oswego, and Maywood Park.

Read Price’s lawsuit against Multnomah County