A former Coos County Assessor’s Office employee has filed a tort claim notice with the county, complaining of harassment in the office.

This is the third claim singling out the department in a little more than two months.

Attorney Juli Hall Upton sent the notice dated Oct. 12 to county attorney Jacki Haggerty’s office. It was received on Oct. 29. Upton represents county employee Tamara M. Houghton.

The notice contended Houghton was the victim of sexual harassment, emotional distress, unequal treatment based on gender, intentional harassment and a hostile work environment.

Houghton also contends the county and Assessor Bob Main failed to address the problems and she listed negligent hiring among the reasons for the claim. The notice did not indicate who Houghton was referring to with the negligent hiring claim.

With the exception of the hiring complaint, the circumstances leading to the filing appear to be similar with the previous claims. Eugene attorney Brian Pocock, representing Angela Provost-Allen, sent the county the first notice in late August. Upton also represent a second filer, Kay C. Roach, whose claim was sent in early September.

Houghton sent the county a letter describing incidents where she felt victimized starting in October 2007. The county released a copy of the tort claim letter, which is public record under Oregon law. Prior to releasing the document, the county attorney’s office blocked out employee names. The letter included details of 16 incidents, but said there had been more.

According to the letter, Houghton has moved to a job in the county Information Technology department.

Assessor-elect Adam Colby was placed on administrative on Sept. 30, following the first two letters, but the decision was made after Colby requested the county investigate personnel issues in the office. That request came in connection with claims of harassment.

Colby’s attorney, Adam Gould of Coos Bay, said in a press release last week that Colby is back on the job.

“Beginning immediately, Adam Colby is no longer on paid administrative leave and is performing special transitional duties in preparation for his role as Assessor,” the press release said.

The release does not describe those duties and Gould declined comment about whether that means Colby is going to be working in the assessor’s office. Human Resources manager Steve Allen said he had not seen the release and would not comment further.

Colby and Main were named in all three of the tort claims. None of the claims alleged that either Colby or Main engaged in sexual harassment.