White Hen Clinic filed a lawsuit towards Willamette Valley Disaster Care and a former CAHOOTS employee alleging the group and associates stole proprietary info.
The grievance filed Nov. 18 accuses former CAHOOTS employee Alese “Dandy” Colehour of secretly stealing “voluminous” data, information and different supplies from White Hen earlier than she resigned earlier this month.
“Particularly, at 10:24 a.m., November 7, 2025, Defendant Colehour secretly accessed and commenced downloading voluminous confidential information and data of Plaintiff’s to a private digital machine,” the grievance mentioned. “As soon as the obtain was accomplished at 10:46 a.m., defendant Colehour despatched a resignation electronic mail to Plaintiff’s Program Director.”
The proprietary info allegedly included enterprise improvement plans, coaching manuals, job descriptions, grant and funding methods, budgets, assembly minutes, vendor data, and data of and relationships with potential shoppers and sufferers, in keeping with the grievance.
What’s Willamette Valley Disaster Care?
Cell disaster refers to an alternate response mannequin the place well being professionals are deployed to emergencies as an alternative of, or along side, regulation enforcement. Based in 1989, White Hen Clinic’s CAHOOTS program has acquired nationwide recognition as a pioneer of this mannequin.
CAHOOTS stands for Disaster Help Serving to Out on the Streets and operates as an unarmed cell disaster intervention workforce staffed by the White Hen Clinic. In April, Eugene officers introduced the town was chopping ties with CAHOOTS after White Hen didn’t uphold its portion of funding help to this system.
After the announcement, former CAHOOTS employees, together with Colehour, shaped and based Willamette Valley Disaster Care with the hope to recreate and develop CAHOOTS providers in Eugene separate from White Hen Clinic. The nonprofit’s mission is to offer important cell disaster response for nonemergency public security and wellness requests, in keeping with the group’s Fb web page.
White Hen sues over trademark violations, stealing ‘commerce secrets and techniques’
Willamette Valley Disaster Care founders Alese “Dandy” Colehour, Laurel Lisovskis (left and heart) and Jacob Trewe, converse to the Metropolis Membership of Eugene about bringing again a CAHOOTS-style service, Sept. 12, 2025.
Colehour had been employed at White Hen Clinic since 2016. As a part of her employment, White Hen says Colehour promised to maintain affected person, supplier and personnel info, from any supply and in any type, confidential. This promise was not stored, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
Within the grievance, White Hen accused Colehour and Willamette Valley Disaster Care of misappropriation of commerce secrets and techniques, conversion, breach of contract, state frequent regulation trademark infringement, federal frequent regulation trademark infringement, and false designation of origin.
The grievance alleges Willamette Valley Disaster Care is “passing off” its providers as being White Hen’s providers, stating it is prone to “trigger confusion, trigger mistake, or to deceive service companions as to the affiliation, connection, or affiliation” of WVCC with White Hen.
On Nov. 20, White Hen filed a brief restraining order requesting the court docket “instantly restrain” Colehour and Willamette Valley Disaster Care from disclosing or utilizing any property or info of White Hen’s and from utilizing or suggesting any affiliation with CAHOOTS.
Lane County Circuit Courtroom Choose Michelle Bassi granted the request and ordered Colehour and representatives with Willamette Valley Disaster Care to look in court docket on Nov. 26 for a preliminary injunction listening to to find out whether or not the court docket ought to proceed the short-term restraining order.
Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking information and public security reporter for The Register-Guard. You could attain her at HKochanski@gannett.com.
This text initially appeared on Register-Guard: White Hen sues Willamette Valley Disaster Care, former CAHOOTS employee
