Registered Nurse at Multnomah County Jail Says His Personal Information Was Leaked to an Inmate Who Sent Harassing Letters to His Home

The nurse's supervisor alerted him in Nov. 2019 that "there's a chance" his home address was leaked to an inmate.

A lone man sits outside the Justice Center steps while playing music from speakers on his backpack. (Alex Wittwer)
By Tess Riski
A registered nurse at the Multnomah County Jail in downtown Portland filed a lawsuit in circuit court Nov. 9, accusing the county of negligence, creating a hostile work environment, and sexual harassment by a non-employee after the nurse’s personal information was allegedly disclosed to one of the jail’s inmates.
Plaintiff Tommie Norton says he received notification from his supervisor in November 2019 that his personal information had been “leaked” to an inmate named Colby “Tesla” Alpin.
Norton then began receiving letters from Alpin at his home address. The lawsuit says the letters included “threats, explicit language, and personal information about plaintiff,” and that some letters contained unspecified “bodily fluids.”
Norton says he notified the county of the unwanted letters, but the county did not intercept the correspondence until March 2020, when his attorneys sent a tort claim notice to the county for damages. Norton is seeking $100,000.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the jail, did not respond to WW’s request for comment.

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