Portland officer does a welfare check on a 76-year-old retired nurse. Weeks later, he sues her for $2 million: ‘This is not an episode of Portlandia’

A Portland police officer has sued a 76-year-old retired nurse for $2 million after he fell down her front steps during a welfare check at her home. The details come from a Reason Magazine TikTok video reported by Bess Byers, who visited the property and described the sequence of events.

The incident took place in March 2025 when officers responded to the home of Rosemary Southwood, who has lived at the Portland, Oregon, address since 2016. A neighbor who spoke with Byers said that when the officers arrived, Southwood had been on the floor for a day and a half. One of the responding officers was Bradley Jett, who has served with the Portland Police Bureau for 17 years.

After emergency medical services transported Southwood from the home, Jett and another officer tried to close the front door. Byers reported that when they pulled the door shut, the handle popped off.

Portland code and a 1984 court ruling allow the claim to move forward

According to the lawsuit, the handle unexpectedly detached completely from the door, and the sudden release caused Jett to lose his balance and fall backward down approximately six concrete steps. A neighbor who witnessed the fall described it as more of a roll down the stairs and onto the grass.

The complaint listed injuries that included dislocated joints on two fingers, a bone fracture on one finger, inflamed tendons, stiffness, and reduced grip strength. It also described other injuries to Jett’s head, wrist, arm, and shoulder.

The filing stated that he has not returned to full-duty work as a police officer and that the uncertainty around his job has aggravated and intensified his preexisting post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance.

He is seeking $1 million in economic damages and another $1 million in non-economic damages for things like loss of enjoyment of life, and he has requested a jury trial. It is not the only unusual police-related case in the city, as seen with another Portland man suing police after burning his fingers.

Byers joked, “And no, this is not an episode of Portlandia.” She pointed to Portland City Code, which requires exterior stairs of more than three risers that are designed and intended to be used as part of the regular access to the dwelling unit to have handrails.

The report said Southwood’s steps did not have a handrail at the time of the fall. Google Street View images shown in the video depicted railings in 2019, 2014, 2011, and 2007, but no railing in 2024. A new railing appeared by April, just a few weeks after the incident.

The complaint alleged that Southwood owed Jett a duty to exercise reasonable care and to warn lawful entrants of dangerous conditions. It described his injuries as totally foreseeable and the result of her negligence. Byers explained that a common-law firefighters rule had previously prevented first responders from suing in similar situations, but the Oregon Supreme Court abolished that rule in the 1984 decision Christensen v. Murphy.

In that case, the court held that the firefighters rule is abolished in Oregon and no longer can bar recovery of damages for personal injuries sustained by a public safety officer in the course of employment as a result of a defendant’s negligent conduct.

The decision shifted the analysis to whether the defendant breached a legal duty that caused the injury. Byers said she emailed Jett’s lawyer to ask what could happen if Southwood cannot afford a $2 million settlement, but the lawyer never responded. Big-dollar demands are not unheard of in the city, as shown by a Portland shop shooting $10 million lawsuit filed by a man shot by the owner.

Viewers who watched the video offered reactions that focused on the welfare check circumstances and the decision to sue. One commenter suggested the officer was looking to leave the job through the lawsuit and wrote, “So he’s trying to retire off this.” Another responded to the idea that Southwood should have warned officers about the door by writing, “Oh sorry I forgot to warn you about my door handle when I’ve been on the floor for a day and a half.”

A different commenter proposed legal steps Southwood could take against the department and wrote, “she should sue his employer for not providing proper fall arrest equipment, a helmet, and proper training for work at height and file a complaint with OSHA.”

Another questioned whether workers’ compensation should handle the claim and wrote, “shouldn’t this be covered by workers compensation.” A fifth commenter called the overall situation extreme and wrote, “That’s insane. An old women can’t get accommodations but he’s gonna sue her.”