An Oregon firefighter has filed suit against Columbia River Fire & Rescue claiming the district violated state law by failing to award him disabled veterans’ preference points during a lieutenant promotional examination. Steven Raichel filed suit in US District Court for the District of Oregon on October 12, 2026, alleging violations of Oregon’s veterans’ preference law and his Fourteenth Amendment right to procedural due process.

According to the complaint, Raichel is a disabled veteran who previously served in the US Army. He had volunteered with Columbia River Fire & Rescue before entering military service and subsequently returned. In January 2025, Raichel provided the fire chief with documentation of his veteran status and a copy of the district’s civil service rules addressing veterans’ preference points.

In February 2026, the district announced a promotional examination for lieutenant. The process included a company-officer recommendation, a panel interview, and an interview with the fire chief. On April 23, 2026, the Civil Service Commission approved an eligibility list that placed Raichel third.

The following day, the district selected David Bair for promotion to lieutenant, effective April 25, 2026. According to the complaint, Bair was not a veteran entitled to a preference under Oregon law.

Raichel challenged his examination results, claiming the district had failed to include the preference points he was entitled to receive as a disabled veteran. In May 2026, the district acknowledged the omission and advised Raichel that applying the preference moved him into first place on the eligibility list.

Despite acknowledging the error, the district declined to reconsider Bair’s promotion. According to the complaint, the district maintained that Raichel had not timely requested veterans’ preference and that the fire chief retained the discretion to select among the leading candidates. The district also maintained that Bair demonstrated stronger leadership, skills, or training, and that Raichel needed additional acting-lieutenant experience.

The lawsuit centers on ORS 408.230, Oregon’s veterans’ preference statute. The law requires public employers to award qualifying disabled veterans an additional 10 percentage points on scored promotional examinations. It also provides that an otherwise qualified veteran must be appointed when the veteran’s examination score, including the applicable preference, equals or exceeds that of a non-veteran applicant.

Raichel contends that while the district’s civil service rules ordinarily allow the appointing authority to select among certified candidates, the statutory veterans’ preference requirement overrides that discretion when its conditions are satisfied.

The complaint also alleges that the district failed to follow its own civil service procedures for correcting examination errors. Those rules allow candidates to challenge examination results and authorize the Civil Service Commission to revoke an eligibility list within 30 days of certification. Raichel claims the district acknowledged its scoring error while those corrective procedures were still available but declined to use them.

In addition to alleging a violation of Oregon’s veterans’ preference law, Raichel asserts a federal civil rights claim under 42 USC § 1983. He contends that the statutory requirement to appoint him based on his corrected examination score created a constitutionally protected property interest in the promotion. By refusing to correct the results or provide a meaningful opportunity to challenge the appointment, he claims the district deprived him of that interest without due process.

Raichel is seeking appointment to a lieutenant position, retroactive seniority to April 25, 2026, back pay, lost benefits, compensatory damages, and attorneys’ fees.