An Oregon jury ruled that a deputy racially discriminated against two female attorneys of color after denying them access to a courtroom on two separate occasions.
The public defense lawyers, Chloé Clay and Alyne Sanchez, were awarded $800,000 after they testified about two discriminatory encounters with Deputy David Lyle at the Washington County Law Enforcement Center in 2022 and 2023.
Both attorneys filed a lawsuit stating they were discriminated against based on their race and ethnicity, according to The Oregonian. Clay is Black, and Sanchez is Latina.
Black Attorney Testifies That Deputy Blocked Her From Courtroom and Asked for ID
In her testimony, Clay told the jurors that she first encountered Lyle at the Law Enforcement Center on Nov. 12, 2022.
She said the deputy was manning an entryway to a courtroom and refused to let her in, then instructed her to wait in a line where criminal defendants receive information about the court proceedings.
Clay testified she repeatedly identified herself as an attorney, but Lyle still would not allow her to enter the courtroom.
When he asked for her driver’s license, she said she didn’t have it on her, but offered to show him her Oregon State Bar membership number and a business card.
This didn’t convince Lyle, and Clay said that he told her, “You need to get out of here.”
It wasn’t until a court translator who intervened and greeted Clay by name that Lyle started connecting the dots.
“He goes, ‘Oh, so you know her?’ and ‘I will never forget her face,’” Clay testified. “She was dumbfounded and was like, ‘Yes, of course I do. She’s a lawyer.’ And that is when I just turned around and walked in.”
Deputy Thought Latina Attorney Was Court Interpreter: Testimony
Sanchez testified that she also met Lyle at the Law Enforcement Center just two months later, on Jan. 20, 2023.
She said she and her client arrived early for their court hearing and waited until deputies opened the courtroom.
When she tried to enter the room to check in with court staff, she said that Lyle also barred her from entering.
“He didn’t let me in,” she testified. “I told him multiple times, ‘I am an attorney. I needed to go in for my client.’”
She said that Lyle’s response intimidated her and made her feel “so small.”
“I remember he raised his voice,” Sanchez stated. “He just got big, really big and really tall. He stepped in front of me and wouldn’t let me in.”
Similar to Clay’s ordeal, Sanchez said a colleague had to step in in order for Lyle to acknowledge her.
Sanchez’s colleague tried to usher Sanchez into the courtroom, but Lyle blocked her again.
“That’s when Deputy Lyle then points at me and pointed at my bag,” she said.
She testified that Lyle tried to guess her occupation: “You’re an interpreter.”
Sanchez said her colleague corrected him, saying, “No, she’s an attorney with our office.”
In her suit, Sanchez also alleges that the Washington County Sheriff’s Office failed to intervene when a group of Proud Boys attended a hearing in February 2023 and started making “threatening, racist remarks” toward her.
She recalled that when one member looked at her and said, “Look, a Mexican,” a deputy in the courtroom didn’t attempt to stop the harassment.
She was escorted out of the room by her colleagues.
She accused the sheriff’s office of negligence, but the jury denied her claim.
Deputy’s Lawyers Argue That He Was Doing His Job
In their counterarguments, Lyle’s attorneys maintained that the deputy was only following court protocols by screening Clay and Sanchez.
“Deputy Lyle followed standard security screening procedures, procedures designed to keep everyone safe,” attorney Vicki Smith told jurors. “And if the deputy doesn’t know who the individual is, that first step of the screening process is not met. Then the deputy has to go to the next step and figure out who is this person? And the deputy asks them who they are.”
Lyle still works as a deputy with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
It’s unclear whether the agency has reviewed any of its court procedures or made changes since the attorneys filed their lawsuit.
Washington County Sheriff Caprice Massey issued a statement saying that her office is disappointed with the verdict, but that the agency remains “dedicated to maintaining facilities that are safe, secure, and free from harassment and discrimination.”
Clay and Sanchez are still practicing criminal defense, but will no longer take any cases in Washington County due to their experiences with Lyle.
Clay was awarded $500,000 in damages, and Sanchez received $300,000.
During the trial, their attorneys questioned nine white lawyers, who all testified they had never experienced any security obstacles at the courtrooms in the Law Enforcement Center.
The women’s attorneys also plan to ask the county to cover legal expenses, which could reach up to $1 million. They said they hope the county will issue an official apology now that a verdict has been reached in the case.
“We are proud to have had the opportunity to represent Chloe Clay and Alyne Sanchez,” the legal team said in a statement. “They were incredibly brave to stand up to Washington County and its lawyers. This case brought awareness to inequities regarding access to the Washington County Court system. Ms. Clay and Ms. Sanchez are trailblazers and have fought for three years for acknowledgment of their experience and to ensure professionals of color are granted equal treatment.”
