55-Year-Old School Worker Goes Hunting, Fired by Superintendent After Shooting Deer in a Field

An Oregon school district fired a 29-year employee after police cited him for illegally killing a deer, The Oregonian reported Dec. 2.

Paul Simmons, 55, said he didn’t know he was trespassing when he brought the animal down in November 2023.

He is now suing the school district for $677,000 in back pay, future wages and for emotional distress.

Before the incident, Simmons, a maintenance manager at the Clatskanie School District, had recently learned his father had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

“Mr. Simmons realized that he needed a short break from work to manage the stress he was experiencing due to his father’s diagnosis and his heavy workload,” according to lawsuit documents.

The school buses had returned to the garage, signaling the end of the day, so Simmons left the campus, wishing to join his son for hunting.

The school claims he left work without authorization, but Simmons — who had 2,500 hours of unused leave — said it was common practice where he worked to take time off without permission in order to address “personal matters.”

He also said he had notified Clatskanie Superintendent Danielle Hudson before the incident that he would eventually need time off because of his father’s diagnosis.

Simmons went home to grab his rifle before setting out to Swedetown, a community in Oregon.

Along the way, he spotted a deer in a field and a house nearby.

He didn’t see any “no trespassing” signs and assumed he was on the private land of a family with extensive land holdings who had previously given him permission to hunt.

He yelled “hello” to ensure nobody was in the area, dropped the deer, loaded it into his truck and entered the kill into the state’s hunting database.

Police later arrived to confiscate the deer along with Simmons’ rifle, citing him for unlawful hunting and official misconduct, which are misdemeanors.

Hudson fired Simmons later that November and he now works at a car dealership.

Earlier this month, Columbia County sentenced Simmons to 1.5 years of probation and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution.

His hunting license was also suspended for three years as part of the plea deal.

Simmons filed his lawsuit against the school last month, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported.

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