Federal jury awards $4.1 million in damages to Scappoose's former police chief in retaliation case

A federal jury Thursday awarded the former police chief of Scappoose $4.1 million in damages, finding that the former Scappoose city manager initiated investigations of the chief and disciplined him after the chief raised questions about city financial irregularities.

In the winter of 2012-2013, then-Scappose Police Chief Doug Greisen questioned the city manager's budget and financial management practices, and the city manager at the time, Jon Hanken, told the chief to stay "on his side of City Hall,'' according to Greisen and his lawyers.

When Greisen persisted, Hanken initiated three disciplinary investigations of the chief, one involving the chief's stop of a felon after a police chase, the second into alleged workplace harassment and the third, involving an alleged discovery of cash in the chief's desk meant to go to charities, according to his lawyers.

Hanken ended up suspending the chief for two weeks without pay stemming from the police pursuit investigation. He later barred him from city property and prohibited him from talking about the issues while the second and third inquiries continued, Greisen's attorneys argued.

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