Trying to add a payment method? You can do this on the 
QuickTake:
Drae Charles, a former worker in the Office of Equity & Community Engagement, had alleged race-based discrimination and retaliation before his firing. The city confirmed the lawsuit’s settlement but did not disclose terms, saying it made a “business decision.”
The city of Eugene has settled a federal employment discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee of the city’s Office of Equity & Community Engagement.
Daniel “Drae” Charles, who is Black, alleged in a 40-page March 2025 complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene that he was subjected to race- and color-based discrimination and retaliation while working for the city.
He began working as a management analyst and a human rights and equity analyst in the office in 2022 and was fired in July 2024.
Attorneys for Charles and the city on Thursday, Aug. 27, jointly filed for dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning Charles cannot bring the same lawsuit in the future.
Elle O’Casey, the city’s director of communications, confirmed to Lookout Eugene-Springfield on Wednesday that the parties reached a settlement, but did not disclose the terms.
The city made a “business decision” to resolve the case and avoid disruptions to work, the possibility of “significant attorney fee exposure” and “known ongoing defense costs,” she said.
“The City is not able to comment on personnel matters in any detail but is pleased this matter is resolved,” O’Casey wrote in an email.
Charles’ former supervisor, Equity & Community Engagement Manager Fabio Andrade, was originally named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Charles and for Andrade previously in a joint filing Aug. 24 said Andrade should be dismissed from the lawsuit, with Chief U.S. District Judge Michael McShane formally dismissing Andrade as a defendant the next day.
O’Casey said the city “remains committed” to Andrade’s work, the Office of Equity & Community Engagement, and the Human Rights Commission.
“The city supports their actions and was ready to defend them,” O’Casey said.
Charles’ job for the Office of Equity & Community Engagement involved supporting city staff, elected officials and the Human Rights Commission, a volunteer advisory body, on human rights, social equity and social justice issues, including city procedures for handling hate and bias crimes.
Charles currently serves on the Bethel School Board. After leaving his job for the city, Charles led the Eugene-Springfield NAACP as executive director for about a year before stepping down in November 2025.
His attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
The allegations, and the city’s response
In his 2025 complaint, Charles alleged that the city displayed an “unnecessarily callous indifference to his well-being” through discriminatory and retaliatory actions and subjected him to a “severe and pervasive hostile work environment.”
Charles claimed Andrade, his former boss, subjected him to heightened scrutiny, micromanagement, paternalistic treatment and “racial and colorist stereotyping” that differed from how non-Black employees were treated.
He also alleged the city retaliated against him after he complained about the way he was treated and about other alleged misconduct by Andrade, including “distorting and/or misrepresenting” city reports.
Neither Charles nor the city disputed the following facts: Despite receiving a largely positive performance review in 2023, Charles’ probationary period was extended twice, and in 2024, he was placed on a performance improvement plan. He went on paternity leave between April and July of that year, and he was fired his first day back.
That firing marked the culmination of a “pattern of discriminatory mistreatment,” Charles alleged.
In a June 2025 response to Charles’ complaint, the city denied allegations of discrimination and retaliation. Though the filing does not detail why the city fired Charles or deemed his performance unsatisfactory, it includes certain examples of Charles allegedly not following supervisor direction and other workplace policies.
At one point during Charles’ employment, Andrade provided Charles with a “coaching session” about his “repeated refusal to follow his supervisors’ directives,” during which Andrade reminded him that “insubordination was a reason for termination,” according to the filing.
“Defendants admit that plaintiff had a clearly established right to be free from unlawful discrimination based on race, but deny that defendants in any way violated that right,” Eugene’s attorneys wrote.
Details surface in discovery
According to court records, the pretrial process known as discovery — in which each party gathers evidence from the other to prove its claims — was extended multiple times and involved disputes over what records parties had to search and produce.
In January 2026, the city subpoenaed three of Charles’ former employers, seeking information like applications, resumes, supervisor files, performance evaluations, disciplinary records, investigatory files, complaints “made by or concerning [Charles],” and pay records.
Charles has worked as a Lane County juvenile justice specialist, a program coordinator for the 4J School District’s Department of Equity and Inclusion, and most recently as the executive director of the Eugene-Springfield NAACP before stepping down in November 2025. The chapter did not comment on his departure, and on Wednesday had no comment on the settlement.
Charles asked the judge to block those subpoenas, characterizing the inquiry as “a broad fishing expedition” in a letter filed in court. But McShane denied his request.
Specifically, the judge wrote that Charles’ NAACP employment file, including his performance and the reason that employment ended, was “relevant” in determining whether Charles took reasonable steps to reduce his financial losses after leaving the city — an assessment known in employment law as the “duty to mitigate.”
Three months later, McShane agreed to push back attorneys’ deadline to complete discovery from May 13 to Sept. 1.
In late June, the parties held a settlement conference that did not result in a settlement. There were no other court filings until Andrade’s dismissal as a defendant from the case Aug. 24. Three days later, the parties agreed to dismiss the case altogether.
