The City of Salem is withdrawing its petition asking the Oregon Supreme Court to review the case City of Salem v. Stadeli.

In a statement to the City Council on September 25, 2023, City Manager Keith Stahley directed the City Attorney to withdraw the petition to the Oregon Supreme Court to review the City of Salem v. Stadeli decision issued by the Oregon Court of Appeals.

“The Appeals Court has ruled, and we will accept that ruling and its operational and financial implications,” says City Manager Keith Stahley, “The Stadeli family will be compensated, our firefighters, and frankly firefighters throughout the state, can feel more confident that they and their families are protected from the ravages of cancer that disproportionately affect firefighters. With this decision, I hope we can start the hard work of repairing relationships that we damaged in this process.”

At the center of this case is the workers compensation benefit extended to the family of Maurice “Mo” Stadeli’s, a longtime firefighter paramedic for the Salem Fire Department who contracted tonsular cancer in 2018 and died in 2019.

“I’ve learned a lot about Mo over the past few weeks since this case came to my attention,” says Stahley, “Mo sounds like a great guy, a good father, a good community member, and a well-respected firefighter. Anyone who has served their community for 30 years deserves our respect. Mo has my respect. I’m sorry if the City’s actions have conveyed a different message – that was not our intention.”

The City of Salem recognizes that Workers’ compensation law and the facts of this case are complicated and dynamic and believe that, in this case, the right thing to do is to bring this process to an end.