Karimah Guion-Pledgure had been an employee of Multnomah County, Ore. since 2011 when her employer put up a “Blue Lives Matter” flag in the workplace in 2017.
According to CNN, the county is about to pay for it.
In September of 2017, a probation officer at Guion-Pledgure’s workplace hung the flag above his desk, and supervisors would not require him to remove it.
Guion-Pledgure, a corrections technician, who said in her lawsuit that the flag repuposes the Black Lives Matter slogan “to shift focus to law enforcement, a chosen profession, not a racial identity, and thus denigrates, dilutes and demeans the purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement,” complained to supervisors in late 2017 and early 2018, voicing her objections to the county CEO in April 2018, according to complaints. In July, Guion-Pledgure, who said she was harassed because of her stance and faced “discrimination and retaliation,” according to the New York Daily News, began an “equity wall,” according to the suit.
Featuring photographs of people of color killed by police in the United States, along with children separated from their parents at the border. After a coworker complained about the decoarated wall, Guion-Pledgure was asked to take it down, but refused, citing the Blue Lives matter flag. Management issued a notice that all personal photographs must be give-by-seven inches or smaller, and Guion-Pledgure found notes on her wall that read “thanks a lot” and “bitch,” according to the suit.
Later that month, Guion-Pledgure went on leave due to health issues she says were caused by the events surrounding her wall.
In her suit, filed in January of this year, Guion-Pledgure initially sought $400,000 for emotional distress and $20,000 in lost wages. As part of her $100,000 agreement, she will resign from her job with the county, according to her attorney, Ashlee Albies. She can reapply for other positions.
Guion-Pledgure’s settlement will be filed once she files a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Multnomah County officials are withholding further comment until proceedings are complete, said county spokeswoman Jessica Mokert-Shibley