Michele Parry worked as the Shady Cove Administrator from 2024 until last January, when the city council fired her. They began interviewing candidates to replace her last October, days before they put her on indefinite paid leave.
Her lawsuit alleges that this was because she discovered years of improper spending at the city, including failures to file federal payroll tax returns and using restricted funds unlawfully. She claims that she was threatened by the mayor and eventually fired.
"The City’s response was not gratitude. It was retaliation," reads the complaint. "Within weeks of the budget committee meeting at which City officials acknowledged the financial irregularities Ms.Parry had identified, the Mayor threatened to fire her. Two elected officials resigned and told the press she was incompetent and deceitful."
Parry did not respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for the city denied the allegations.
Parry is seeking almost a million dollars for lost wages and reputational harm.
While Parry alleges financial mismanagement in Shady Cove, her former employer Lakeview is accusing her of fraud. The town is asking the state to reopen an investigation into Parry, claiming she forged signatures of other town officials and drove Lakeview into debt. The state closed that case into Parry in January because they couldn’t prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
