Multnomah County’s former Preschool for All director who resigned under a cloud of controversy over the summer is poised to sue the county for alleged discrimination and retaliation leading up to her departure.
Leslee Barnes, who is Black, accused the county of treating her differently than white male managers and alleged that officials disparaged her in remarks to the media, among other things, in a Jan. 23 tort claim notice obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
“As a result of Multnomah County’s discriminatory, retaliatory, and defamatory conduct, Ms. Barnes experienced irreparable economic harm and emotional distress,” attorney Monica Goracke wrote in the document. “She lost her employment and future earnings, and she suffered damage to her professional reputation.”
The six-page claim gives a first account from Barnes of what she alleges happened behind closed doors in the weeks leading up to her resignation.
The county declined to comment on the potential lawsuit.
Barnes resigned July 31 following a state audit that determined a preschool she owns had a “chronic” problem enrolling fewer children than it was funded to serve through the state’s Preschool Promise initiative, first reported by Willamette Week. That program is separate from the county’s own highly-scrutinized universal preschool initiative, which has come under fire many times over the years for the tax on high-income earners that funds it and a large savings account it has accumulated.
Before Barnes was hired in 2021 under former county Chair Deborah Kafoury, she disclosed she owned the preschool, Village Childcare, records show. She stepped down as the preschool’s executive director before taking on the county role, but did not disclose her ownership of the school as a potential conflict of interest in the years after she took the job, nor did the county explicitly press her to do so, records show.
Barnes told the county that she would take the job under the condition that she could retain ownership of Village Childcare, according to the tort claim. She told officials that the school would not seek any contracts with Preschool for All, and passed the management of the school to her children.
The state audit found that Village Childcare collected over $833,000 from the state between the 2020 and 2023 academic years, records show. That money was designated to fund 63 preschool seats, but the school only enrolled nine children, Willamette Week reported; Barnes told the news outlet that although enrollment was low at the preschool run by her family, the school still had to pay for staff and operating costs during the pandemic.
The audit itself did not accuse the preschool of wrongdoing. Rather, it focused on the actions of state managers who insisted on continuing to send money to programs that other state workers had flagged for “chronic” underenrollment. The Oregon Department of Justice said at the time that it was reviewing the audit report, but did not disclose the names of any preschool providers being investigated.
In the legal notice to the county, Barnes attributed many of the spending problems to the COVID-19 pandemic and documented issues with the state agency contracting with child care providers and the organizations responsible for outreach and enrollment.
“Village Childcare had spent the state funding entirely in accordance with its state contract to keep its doors open and staffed at full capacity during the terrifying months of COVID lockdowns and chaos,” her attorney wrote.
Two days after Willamette Week’s story, Barnes said she was pulled into a phone call with the county Department of Human Services Director Mohammad Bader and the former Chief Human Resources Officer Travis Brown, who resigned in October amid complaints about his workplace conduct. Barnes claims Bader and Brown told her that “because she had not disclosed her ownership of Village Childcare, if she did not resign within two hours, she would be fired.”
Barnes, who was making $164,832 a year in the role, said she reminded them both that she had disclosed her ownership, but that they told her she would still have to resign because of the “scandal.”
On the same day, Multnomah County commissioners Julia Brim-Edwards and Shannon Singleton called for Barnes to resign and for an outside investigation into the matter. Barnes claimed those statements were made without “even the slightest attempt to investigate the facts,” according to the document.
The county’s handling of the matter, Barnes alleged, is in stark contrast to how it has handled other controversies involving white male employees of similar rank. Brown, the human resources officer, remained employed at the county for weeks before he resigned, although he was on medical leave for part of that time. The tort claim also pointed to Jessica Vega Pederson’s previous chief of staff and former homeless services director who resigned after a Willamette Week probe into allegations that he bullied female employees.
“These examples reveal a pattern in which the county affords weeks or months to white male directors who are publicly accused of misconduct to leave on their own terms and refrains from bashing them in the media,” Barnes’ attorney wrote. “Leslee Barnes, a woman of color who committed no misconduct, received no such protection.”
News of Barnes’ preschool woes surfaced after a gauntlet of political tension and attacks from Gov. Tina Kotek and the state Legislature threatened the preschool program’s future in June. Barnes claimed that during that time, she was being cut from “key conversations and meetings” with the county chair’s office, while a white employee who reported to her was being included.
Barnes had asked Bader, whom she reported to, for advice and help to be included in those meetings in the future, according to the document. Barnes alleged that Bader told her that “people at the County were more comfortable talking to a white woman, and that he had experienced the same thing as a man of color and a Muslim.” Bader did little to address the situation further, Barnes claimed.
Bader, who has been on medical leave since October, is set to retire Feb. 16.
The attorney wrote that Barnes began seeing a mental health provider and started to show “serious physical symptoms” due to the stress and demands of the job. Barnes said she took medical leave in July when the state’s audit on preschool promise dollars was released.
Multnomah County announced their pick for the next Preschool for All director earlier this month. Danisa McLean, who served as the interim executive director of early learning and director of childcare resources and referrals at Mt. Hood Community College, started Monday.