PORTLAND (OR)
The Oregonian
October 25, 2017, updated on October 26, 2017
By Aimee Green
A former employee of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon has filed an $845,000 lawsuit against the diocese and Bishop Michael Hanley, claiming the bishop physically assaulted a female priest and misused money donated by the deceased grandmother of Mayor Ted Wheeler.
Mary Macy, who was the top finance officer for the diocese, claims she was fired from her job last year because she spoke up about Hanley, the diocese’s leader who oversees more than 70 churches with 15,000 congregants in western Oregon.
Macy claims in her lawsuit filed Tuesday that Hanley allegedly assaulted the Rev. Margaret McMurren in Salem while he visited her congregation, Prince of Peace Episcopal Church, three years ago.
Macy saw Hanley wrap his arm around McMurren’s neck and move with her down some stairs when he came to her church in 2014 for a breakfast and service, said Matthew Ellis, Macy’s attorney.
McMurren’s attorney, Harris Matarazzo, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that multiple witnesses reported seeing the same thing. Witnesses also saw the bishop push the front of his body against the back of McMurren’s body and heard him make discouraging comments about her age in front of congregants during the visit, he said.
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