5 days Ago By Noelle Crombie
A former chief deputy district attorney for Washington County has sued the county to block the potential release of a personnel investigation into his alleged misconduct. The county initially placed Bracken McKey , 53, on administrative leave in September 2023. McKey later requested that the county classify his leave as medical and he then retired in April.
The county had opened a human resources investigation into a “workplace personnel issue” involving McKey, though officials have declined to elaborate on the exact nature of the inquiry. The investigation was completed last week, county spokesperson Philip Bransford confirmed. In his Dec.
3 complaint, McKey claims he was investigated for “alleged unwanted offensive communication,” which is a violation of county policy. He alleges that the county never told him who complained and says in the suit that he has declined the county’s attempts to interview him “as he was no longer an employee of the county.” McKey declined to comment late Monday.
Bransford denied The Oregonian/OregonLive’s request for a copy of the investigation, citing the confidentiality of personnel matters. The news organization on Monday asked the county counsel to reconsider the decision to withhold the record, arguing that the exemption does not apply to situations when an employee resigns during the investigation or steps down in lieu of a disciplinary action. McKey in the lawsuit alleges that county human resources officials had no authority to investigate him since he had retired and asked the court to block the public release of “any investigative reports or findings.
” McKey says the county’s authority to investigate his conduct ended when he left. McKey spent his entire legal career as a Washington County prosecutor, handling some of the most sensitive and high-profile cases in the office. By the time he retired, he was among the county’s highest paid employees.
His salary was $246,536. —Noelle Crombie is an enterprise reporter with a focus on criminal justice. Reach her at 503-276-7184; ncrombie@oregonian.
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