A woman who has performed hundreds of on-camera interviews and appeared on billboards representing Jackson County Fire District 3 has filed a civil-rights complaint with the state claiming that local officials took away her spokesperson duties as retaliation for complaining of sexual harassment and taking a medical leave earlier this year.
Ashley Blakely alleges that a deputy chief who was her direct supervisor pursued her in “a very direct and inappropriate way,” and sexually harassed and intimidated her for several months in 2015. The deputy chief then began a pattern of micromanaging and disciplinary actions after she complained to the board, according to the Oct. 1 complaint filed with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.
Blakely, who has worked as a fire and life safety specialist since April 2015, claims workplace stress caused by her immediate supervisor led to a three-month leave of absence for anxiety and depression early last summer.