School District in Oregon Facing $677,000 Lawsuit by Former Employee

A former Clatskanie School District employee who was sentenced to 18 months of probation, fined $2,000 in restitution, and had his hunting license suspended for three years after shooting and killing a deer is now suing his former employer.

Paul Simmons worked as a maintenance manager at Clatskanie and is suing the school district for $677,000 for emotional distress, back pay, and lost wages.

The lawsuit, filed in the Columbia County Circuit Court, dates to November 3, 2023, when Simmons trespassed on a field on Swedetown Road, shooting and killing a deer. He claims he was ‘just blowing off steam.’ He was fired by the Clatskanie School District Superintendent, Danielle Hudson, who claimed that Simmons left work without permission.

He Was a Loyal Employee for 29 Years

Simmons claims he was a loyal employee for 29 years and was under stress at the time of the incident. He had just learned that his father was dying of pancreatic cancer.

His lawsuit claims that he considered that he was on a break when he left work without telling his boss and driving a work truck. Simmons says it was not an uncommon practice to attend to ‘personal matters’ without asking for time off.

His attorneys point out that Simmons was owed 2,500 hours of unused leave at the time of the incident. They say he needed a short break to manage his stress levels because of his heavy workload and the news of his father’s diagnosis.

The lawsuit states that Simmons drove home to fetch a rifle and was heading toward Swedetown when he spotted the deer. There was a house in a field but no sign forbidding trespassing.

After shooting the deer and loading the carcass into his work truck, Simmons drove home and was entering the information into the state hunting database at his house when troopers arrived and confiscated the carcass and the rifle.

Simmons is now employed at a local car dealership.