Injured Firefighter's Civil Suit Passes Constitutional Muster

The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that when a plaintiff has a remedy for an injury under the Workers’ Compensation Act, the application of the Oregon Tort Claims Act to preclude lawsuits against third-party state employees does not violate the state Constitution. Shirley “Joe” Crandall worked as a firefighter. He was severely injured while fighting the 2018 Sugar Pine fire when his dozer went over a cliff and rolled three times. At the time of the accident, Crandall was employed by Eagle Fire, which had assigned him to work the blaze under the direction of the Oregon Depa...