Lawsuit suggests unsafe conditions in Oregon county's MH system

A Multnomah County, Oregon employee has filed a federal lawsuit against the county and two of her former supervisors, alleging she was demoted from her role in the county Behavioral Health Division after complaining of unsafe conditions resulting from large caseloads of persons with mental illness, The Oregonian reported July 17. Katie Cecil's case centers around the county's effort on behalf of criminal defendants found not able to aid in their defense. The complaint, filed last month in U.S. District Court, states that Cecil and other colleagues were advised by their superiors to tell a county judge that mental health assessments of defendants were in progress, when in reality nothing had been done. Cecil alleges that when she reported that inadequate staffing and resources were causing working conditions to be unsafe, her supervisor told her she was a “whiner” and ultimately demoted her. Multnomah County officials did not comment to the newspaper on the matter, citing the pending litigation.