Complaint Review: The Oregon State Bar Disciplinary Committee/Susan Roedl Cournoyer

In April of 2006 I hired an attorney, Karstan Lovorn who is a White male, of Portland, Oregon to represent me against Shell/Capital City Companies of Salem, Oregon. I went to a Shell Station in Lincoln City, Oregon where I reside and had been a long-standing patron of for several years when I was accosted by a bigoted White male named Rich Baechlor.

I went in for $10 unleaded and paid the nice attendant, Henry. When he left to get my change for me, I waited with my son when another White male attendant raced up to my window and began to racially assault me, calling me a Black b***h and n-i-g-g-e-r and yelling at me to "get up there to the store and get your change back from him so he doesn't have to walk it back out here to you...hahahaha". When I went to the store to report this Rich guy, the manager who was also White, Jay Stiley, refused to reprimand Rich at all and while I wrote down the incidents on a piece of paper Jay provided me, he left and went back into the store. Rich continued to walk back and forth past me lifting his balls in a lewd manner while blowing kisses at me, laughing the whole time.

I filed a complaint to BOLI's Civil Rights Commission in Oregon which has no diversity; none of the Civil Rights Investigators are of color, just White. They messed over the case and then issued a decision of "insufficient evidence". This was after they abruptly closed the case because I complained they were dragging their feet and they were not conducting a fair investigation.

After receiving the decision from BOLI, I had 90 days to file a court action against Shell/Capital City Companies who did nothing, not even an apology for the racist conduct on part of their employees. I located Karstan Lovorn, drove 70 miles to meet with him and he accepted the case. He knew there was only 90 days to file a court complaint.

I heard very little from Karstan Lovorn and finally he wrote to me on May 26, 2006 to advise to make out my filing fee for the suit to the Oregon US District Federal Court. I did so and sent this check to him. On June 5 I email Karstan once more concerned about the 90 day statute of limitations in which to file the case because me being the lay person thought that 90 days was the same as 3 months, and that the case needed to be filed by June 7, 2006. I received an email back from Karstan Lovorn on June 5 where he stated he sent all of my materials back to me and I should have received them by now. I looked out my door to see the Fed Ex had left a box that was from Karstan.

Believing that I only had 2 days in which to file the case on my own, I tried to save it and did file it in the bigoted Lincoln County, Oregon with the circuit court. I had lost my vehicle due to an out-of-town White male driver, a tourist, who raced a red light and totaled my SUV, so I had no vehicle. I had to do things thru the mail. Karstan was aware that since my initial visit to him that I had no vehicle and was pursuing the at-fault driver thru the courts.

I did manage to get my case filed on June 6, 2006 by filing it to the bigoted court in Lincoln County, and when the opposing party's attorneys motioned for a dismissal, I did not understand why. I tried vigorously to obtain other counsel even notifying the PLF (Personal Liability Fund thru the Oregon State Bar that covers unethical conduct of licensed attorneys) to inquire of getting another attorney, but all efforts to no avail.

When the motions were finally heard by the bigoted Judge Littlehale, he immediately dismissed my complaint without even consulting with me or asking me any questions why. This told me that the judge was much of a bigot just like most in this non-diverse county. The ultimate reason for the blunt dismissal was that the statute of limitations date was missed by several days because 90 days is not the same as 3 months. When Karstan Lovorn withdrew from my case the statute of limitations had already been breached by a few days, so there was no way of me filing legally in Circuit Court. OF course I called around to many attorney firms and no one wanted to touch the case because of the previous attorney having messed over it. They even said the complaint that he sent to me for me to file on my own was problematic and the wording and technical function of the suit was in error by Karstan Lovorn.

I immediately contacted the Bar and once again, as most state agencies in Oregon, the too refused to take any disciplinary action against Karstan Lovorn with no real reason as to why. Later Karstan began to lie stating my case had no merit??? What a liar he was looking for excuses to cover his unethical and illegal conduct in this case. He even had a notarized statement from my son who witnessed the entire Shell incident, and Shell soon after the incident, hired the blackest man (as an attendant) they could find to use him to make it look like they were not racist. When they didn't need him anymore, they fired him abruptly and without cause. These are all Whites out here.

The Bar instead of taking proper discipline against Karstan began to insult me and victimize me further calling the situation "just an inconvenience" to me?? When I did finally find an attorney in Portland he was not a malpractice attorney but did file a PLF claim to the Oregon Bar PLF as this attorney was outraged at what Karstan did.

Naturally, the all-White PLF Board said they were denying the claim because of a lack-lustre excuse saying BOLI dismissed the claim. Well, this was already known by Karstan Lovorn when he made the decision to take the case. Meanwhile I search for a decent and strong malpractice attorney who is licensed to practice law in Oregon but may be located elsewhere to bring a court complaint not only against Karstan Lovorn but the miserable and like-wise bigoted Bar Association in Oregon.

Do not move to Oregon if you can help it. Being African American, Oregon is not a place to move to and be a free American because the State and Local governments are all made up mostly of Whites who don't want you to bring a complaint forward such as civil rights or public accommodation violations. They feel it's no big deal that you are humiliated and lied upon and then treated as trash when you do come forward. If you become upset with them, they stereotype you and partner with their White counterparts making up lies and innuendo about you that never occurred. It is as like Oregon is truly moving backwards in the way of diversity and equality for all. They protect Whites out here, but if you are of another race, and it's always African American, expect to have your rights dumped in your face and stomped on. When you get upset they ignore you.

Complaints to the ACLU out here, the Governor Kulongowski, or any government organization out here go ignored and unheeded. When problems go ignored and unheeded, they only worsen. They have for me.

I cannot afford to move at this time though this is first and foremost on my list. I am a single woman and have raised a wonderful son. I got him out of here as they were trying to sink their claws into him. He's an honor role student and is a young man you can say that you are proud of, but I did not want for him to be wasted away in this state where there is no justice against bigotry even when clearly Karstan Lovorn has conducted himself unethically and basically cost me justice against Shell. Meanwhile I spoke to Rich Bachelor's father and his comments to me were "I don't know where that son of a b--i-t--c-h is and if I never saw him again it wouldn't make me happy enough". Even his own father despises Rich Bachelor. He also said that he's not much of a good man and causes chaos and havoc wherever he goes. He said I'm sorry for what he done to you, but I hope I never have to see him again.

I am looking for someone to finish the claim against the PLF as the first attorney is not a malpractice attorney and could only do so much for me. He has referred me to a few other attorneys but they were White also and did not want to deal with the case.

If you care out there and truly hate to see injustice take place against anyone, but hate mostly to see racism so blatant go unheard and deliberately ignored just to protect a White male who obviously has behaved outrageously I'm interested in speaking with you to represent me on this case against the PLF Bar, and Karstan Lovorn. I consider them both bigoted slobs who fell short on their obligation to uphold the law.

Please, contact me thru this website. I would like to work with you on seeking justice in this matter. You don't have to be from Oregon but if you are affiliated with an attorney who is, or you are licensed to practice law in Oregon, by all means, I need you.

Thank you.

K.P.
Lincoln City, Oregon
U.S.A.