A group of houseless individuals have joined a class-action lawsuit filed against the city of Portland Monday, alleging contractors have been illegally
by Tim Gruver, The Center Square | May 26, 2021 09:30 AM Print this article
A class-action lawsuit accuses the city of Portland of throwing away the personal belongings of homeless individuals.
As first reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Oregon Justice Resource Center, the OlsenDaines law firm, and the law office of Kelly D. Jones filed the lawsuit on behalf of the four homeless plaintiffs living in the city.
Under Portland s official policy, city bureaus responsible for dismantling unsanctioned campsites must ensure humane treatment of homeless individuals and respect for property rights. Those rights, the policy states, include retaining personal possessions recognizable as belonging to a person and that has apparent use. Items must be retained by the city at a designated site and returned to their owners within 30 days of inquiry.
A class-action lawsuit filed against Portland, Ore. on Monday alleges that city contractors illegally discarded property while dismantling homeless encampments.
According to the suit, four plaintiffs argue that contractors acting on behalf of the city failed to document and label the items that they moved from the encampments. The plaintiffs also say that over the last six months they have had personal property confiscated and they have been unable to get it back.
Oregon law states that Portland is required to store the property that is “recognizable as belonging to a person and that has apparent use” for at least 30 days in a warehouse so that its owner can claim it. It also allows the property to be discarded if it is determined not to have an obvious use or is deemed unsanitary.