Commissioner Brad Avakian

Bureau of Labor and Industries

800 NE Oregon St. #1045
Portland, OR 97232
Re: Request for Investigation of Hostile Work Environment at Oregon Lottery
Dear Commissioner Avakian,
As Director of the Oregon Lottery, I am writing to advise you of certain recent
developments which I believe have created a hostile work environment here for an
individual lottery employee who is a member of a protected class.
I believe this hostile work environment has been created by two Lottery Commissioners
acting beyond their proper roles and responsibilities in conducting an unfair investigation
into this employees work performance, by repeating charges and allegations against this
employee to other commissioners and lottery employees without ever informing him of
what those charges and allegations are or providing him any opportunity to rebut them or
to offer his own explanation of facts or events. In this way, they have attempted to deprive
him of a promotion and have done significant damage to his reputation.
As a former Oregon labor commissioner, I take seriously my obligation to protect the rights
of all my employees. But I am particularly committed to make sure that bias and prejudice
are never a part of the treatment of anyone at the Oregon Lottery. Based on my own years
at BOLI, I appreciate the difficulty in ascertaining the specific bias or prejudice that may
motivate any particular act of unfairness or discrimination. But in the situation described
below, I cant help suspecting that this particular employee would not have been treated
this way if his name had been Frank Anderson instead of Farshad Allahdadi.

FACTS: On Monday, February 29, 2016, I sent an email to all Oregon Lottery employees
announcing that Stacy Shaw, the Assistant Director for Sales, Marketing and Retail
Services, was being reassigned to a new position that would exclusively concentrate on the
Oregon Lotterys responsible gambling and problem gambling program. At the same time, I
announced that Farshad Allahdadi, at the time our Retail Contracts Manager, would serve
as the interim Assistant Director for Sales and Retail Services (as the job title was renamed)
until the permanent position could be confirmed by a vote of the Lottery Commission as
required for all Assistant Director positions. (See Attachment 1)
That night, at 7:01 pm, an anonymous email was sent to all of the Oregon Lottery
Commissioners through a website called AnonymousFeedback.net. The email claimed to
speak for Me and many of my colleages[sic] and criticized the choice of Farshad Allahdadi
for promotion to this position claiming he has no relevant experience but given free reigns
[sic] by the director has made questionable decision w/retailers, bungled a simple software
project, is known for being devisive [sic] (See Attachment 2)
I subsequently made an attempt to discuss the overall situation briefly on the phone with
all five commissioners individually and agreed to provide them with Mr. Allahdadis resume.
Then, on Thursday, March 10 at 3:49 am, a second anonymous email was sent to

commissioners, this time through GuerillaMail.com, elaborating on the complaints about

the appointment of Mr. Allahdadi although without providing additional substantive
allegations or charges. (See Attachment 3) This email also recommended if you have any
questions about any of this, you should talk to Major Durbin, DD [Deputy Director] Roland
Iparraguirre, Kathy Ortega, Janel Simmons, At Kiuttu, Lyndsey Hambelton, Phil Harpster,
internal audit, procurement, IT, etc.
At this point, I attempted to once again discuss the matter with each of the Lottery
Commissioners. I did discuss it with Chair MardiLynn Saathoff and Commissioner Chris
Telfer. Although I originally had a phone conference scheduled with Commissioner Mary
Wheat on the morning of Monday, March 14, she sent an email to my office at 7:56 am on
Sunday, March 13, which said I am working in Trinidad this week and I will be calling in for
the Commissioner's meeting and marketing meeting on Friday. I will not be able to have a
call with you either before the meeting. . . . I also want you to know that I will be voting no
on Farshad's confirmation. I based that decision on existing concerns that I have had for a
while, key staff concerns and a conflict of interest in regards to retail contracts. This has
not been an easy process and I had hoped there would be an expanded search for a
replacement but it is obvious that is not going to happen. (See Attachment 4)
At 10:00 am on March 14, I met in person with Commissioners Raul Valdivia and Liz Carle at
the Oregon Lottery to review with them my decision to promote Mr. Allahdadi. I took that
opportunity to discuss with them each of the allegations made in the two anonymous
emails, although primarily the second email which was somewhat more specific. I pointed
out that none of the allegations related to legal or ethical issues but were simply a
difference of opinion regarding Mr. Allahdadis job performance in his two years with the
Oregon Lottery. I pointed out that I had been Mr. Allahdadis direct supervisor throughout
his time at the Oregon Lottery and that I disagreed strongly with the characterization of his
job performance and capabilities contained in the anonymous emails.
Ms. Carle said that since she now had a file on this case she felt obligated to investigate
these allegations, adding I was a prosecutor and I know how to do this. I reminded her
that there were no specific charges and that the emails contained only value judgments
regarding Mr. Allahdadis job performance and abilities; in fact, THERE WERE NOT, AND TO
DATE HAVE NOT BEEN, ANY ALLEGATIONS OF ILLEGAL OR UNETHICAL CONDUCT BY MR.
ALLAHDADI. She nonetheless expressed her view that, since the email made the point of
listing people by name that the author(s) of the email suggested would confirm the
criticisms of Farshad, she felt that it was her responsibility to do so and asked if I had any
objections to her calling them.
In what I now believe was an unwise concurrence with what had the obvious potential to
become, and which I am convinced did become, an unfair process for Mr. Allahdadi, I
agreed that she could call any of the names listed in the email if she felt that were
necessary. At the time, I was concerned that any objection on my part to her contacting
the people named in the email would be misinterpreted by Commissioner Carle as concern
on my part about what she would learn from such calls. I believed then, and believe now,
that nothing she might learn in the course of her investigation would justify the
Commissioners refusing to confirm my appointment of Mr. Allahdadi.
I asked Commissioner Carle if, in light of her interest in further investigation, she would like
for the vote on the confirmation of Mr. Allahdadi as Deputy Director for Sales and Retail

Services to be postponed and she replied that she would. Consequently the vote on his
confirmation was not held at the March Commission meeting as originally planned.
I did reiterate to both Commissioner Carle and Commissioner Valdivia that I felt I had
adequately answered the questions that had been raised and that I believed it was
inappropriate for a Lottery Commissioner to personally investigate the reputation or job
performance of an individual Lottery employee. Commissioner Carle ignored my objections.
I subsequently learned that Commission Chair Saathoff, when informed by Commissioner
Carle of her intentions, also told her that this was not an appropriate role for the Lottery
Commission, much less an individual commissioner. Nonetheless, Commissioner Carle
proceeded with her investigation and Mr. Allahdadi continued in his new position on an
interim basis.
It is my understanding that over the next several weeks Commissioner Carle did in fact
contact every name recommended in the second email and some others as well. She also
presented a series of questions for me, which I later learned from Chair Saathoff were
modified and made less accusatory than Commissioner carle originally proposed based on
Chair Saathoffs recommended modifications. I submitted a written reply to her questions
within a day. (Attachment 5)
It is not clear to me how Commissioner Carle recorded or retained the testimony she
received from her conversations with the other people she contacted. Neither is it clear to
me what she shared with other commissioners and whether each commissioner received
the same information from Commissioner Carle. I do know that, after being asked by Chair
Saathoff to contact me, Commissioner Carles short recital of what she learned from her
inquisition was very sparse and primarily consisted of saying that most people dont
understand why the change was made. She also told me that she would be voting against
Mr. Allahdadis confirmation as Assistant Director for Sales and Retail Services.
With Commissioner Wheats opposition to Mr. Allahdadis confirmation having previously
been expressed, I had already determined that if Commissioner Carle decided not to
support Mr. Allahdadis confirmation, I would need to find a way to proceed that was fair to
Mr. Allahdadi and particularly one that did not produce a significant risk of liability for the
Oregon Lottery.
Given the unfair nature of this investigation (as related more particularly below) and the
hostile work environment that I believed this investigation had created for Mr. Allahdadi,
particularly in view of Mr. Allahdadis status as a member of a protected class, I decided the
best course to follow was to reclassify the position to one that was not an Assistant Director
and thus did not require commission approval.
This decision was supported by the fact that I had previously removed the Marketing
Communication section from under the Assistant Director for Sales, Marketing and Retail
Services (hence the decision to rename it Assistant Director for Sales and Retail Services)
and had also removed the Research section. Thus the duties and responsibilities of sales
and retail services seemed to me to have been reduced to a level more comparable to the
Chief Information Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer,
none of whose appointments are required to be confirmed by the Commission; however,
each of these positions was compensated at the same level as the Assistant Director for

Sales, Marketing and Services had been and while not as large as Sales and Retail Services,
may certainly be regarded as of comparable significance to the organization.
Accordingly, I sent a new email to Lottery employees and the Lottery Commissioners
explaining that I was reclassifying the position to Chief Sales and Retail Services Officer and
appointing Farshad Allahdadi effective immediately. (Attachment 6)
Although none of the commissioners complained directly to me about this action, I
understand that many of them were upset about this development and that several of
them complained to Chair Saathoff. Based on questions apparently raised by
Commissioner Wheat to Chair Saathoff questioning my authority to make such a change,
this question was directed to Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Byrnes of the Oregon
Department of Justice who, after researching the laws and rules governing the Oregon
Lottery notified Chair Saathoff and me separately on April 15 that my actions were within
my authority. I believe something in writing from Ms. Byrnes confirming this opinion should
be received shortly.
Meanwhile, it appears that Commissioner Carle has been substantially more forthcoming in
discussions with at least some of her fellow commissioners than she was in her abbreviated
conversation with me. It is my understanding that what in her early discussions with some
commissioners reflected a mixed review of Mr. Allahdadis job performance increasingly
degenerated into a recitation of only the negative opinions she had gathered, many of
which I understand were reported anonymously.
Most troubling of all is the fact that AT NO TIME HAS MR. ALLADADI BEEN QUESTIONED BY
MS. CARLE, BEEN ADVISED OF THE ACCUSATIONS MADE AGAINST HIM OR BEEN ALLOWED
TO PRESENT HIS VERSION OF THE ACCOUNTS SHE HAS RECEIVED FROM OTHERS AND
WHICH SHE HAS REPEATED TO SOME OR ALL OF HER FELLOW COMMISSIONERS.
The starkest example of this is Senior Traditional Products Manager and Business
Development Manager Art Kiuttus version of a one-on-one meeting he had with Mr.
Allahdadi, which he has recounted to me and to our Human Resources Department. It also
appears that this version has been shared among the lottery commissioners who
apparently have accepted his version as true.
According to Mr. Kiuttus version of their discussion, Mr. Allahdadi became angry, yelling
and waving his hands while appearing to be out of control. According to Mr. Allahdadis
version, although the discussion was tense and somewhat disagreeable, neither of them
even remotely lost control of their tempers.
What the commissioners apparently did not know was that Mr. Kiuttu had already brought
this matter to our Human Resources Department, which evaluated both versions of the
discussion and has Mr. Allahdadis written account of what transpired. I believe our HR
Department concluded that Mr. Kiuttus version of events is inconsistent with Mr.
Allahdadis two-year history with the Oregon Lottery but offered to help both parties work
through a difficult period in their relationship.
This kind of difference of recollection or interpretation is not uncommon in interpersonal
interactions in the workplace and in this case I believe our HR Department had good advice
for both of them. I also talked separately with each of them and, after hearing their vastly

different accounts of what had transpired, also encouraged them to make an effort to work
together.
What is most significant here is that Mr. Kiuttus version of that conversation appears to be
the only version conveyed to the commissioners and accepted as fact. This is symptomatic
of the fact that throughout her investigation COMMISSIONER CARLE NEVER SPOKE TO MR.
ALLAHDADI, NEVER ADVISED HIM OF ANY OF THE COMPLAINTS OR ACCUSATIONS MADE
AGAINST HIM AND NEVER GAVE HIM THE CHANCE TO PRESENT TESTIMONY, EVIDENCE OR
COUNTERARGUMENTS IN HIS OWN BEHALF.
This is unconscionable treatment of any worker in Oregon and, where a state worker is
involved, a fundamental denial of due process. What makes it even more objectionable is
that Mr. Allahdadi is a member of a protected class under both Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 and ORS 659A.030 due to his national origin as the son of an Iranian father and
who himself has an Iranian name.
I believe that as an Oregon Lottery employee Mr. Allahdadi has been denied fundamental
fairness and due process in the unauthorized investigation by a Lottery Commissioner who
has relied upon unproven and, in some cases, undisclosed interviews with co-workers and
has shared those unproven allegations with other Lottery employees and co-workers of Mr.
Allahdadi, as well as other Lottery Commissioners, thereby damaging his reputation and
threatening his position as a state employee with the intent to deny him a promotion
already authorized by his immediate superior.
In these efforts, I believe there is evidence that Commissioner Carle has been supported
and assisted by Commissioner Mary Wheat, who has thereby collaborated with
Commissioner Carle to damage Mr. Allahdadis reputation at the Lottery and in particular
with other Lottery Commissioners and the governors office. To the best of my knowledge,
no other Lottery Commissioner has participated in these efforts, although they may have
been advised by Commissioners Carle and Wheat of the results of their investigation.

CONCLUSION: I am concerned that the totality of these circumstances has created a hostile
work environment for Mr. Allahdadi at the Oregon Lottery. As director of the Oregon
Lottery, I regret any responsibility I may bear for allowing this poisonous atmosphere to be
created by two rogue lottery commissioners. However, I believe the greater portion of the
responsibility belongs to those commissioners, Liz Carle and Mary Wheat, who are not
under my influence or control and who serve at the pleasure of the governor.
Commissioner Carle insisted on conducting an investigation into a Lottery employees job
performance over the objections of the Chair of the Lottery Commission as well as my own
as Lottery Director. With the assistance of Commissioner Wheat, it appears she has
selectively released the findings of this unauthorized investigation to other commissioners
and some lottery employees. At the same time, Commissioners Carle and Wheat have
failed to provide the employee they were investigating, Farshad Allahdadi, with even
minimal notice of or opportunity to address the criticisms and allegations made against him
or to present any countervailing evidence or testimony in his own behalf. This is a
fundamental denial of his right to due process as a state employee and of his civil rights
under Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and of ORS 659A.030.

Consequently, I request an investigation by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries into
the circumstances which have created this hostile work environment at the Oregon Lottery
and determination of a just remedy for Mr. Allahdadi (both as a state employee and as a
member of a protected class) and anyone else who has been harmed thereby.
Very truly yours,

JACK ROBERTS
Oregon Lottery Director

DIRECTORS EMAIL TO LOTTERY EMPLOYEES

Effective tomorrow, March 1, Stacy Shaw will be devoting full time to our responsible gambling and
problem gambling program on behalf of the Oregon Lottery. This includes her participation with the
National Council on Problem Gambling, the Oregon Council on Problem Gambling and a variety of
related organizations and activities.
Stacys reputation and experience in this area has been recognized nationally and represents a
valuable asset for the Oregon Lottery. In this capacity, Stacy will serve as part of the Directors
Office and work directly under me as the Oregon Lottery Director.
Effective immediately, Farshad Allahdadi will serve as the interim Assistant Director for Sales and
Retail Services, previously known as Sales, Marketing and Retail Services. This appointment will
become permanent when confirmed by the Oregon Lottery Commission at its March meeting.
The Retail Contracts group previously within the Commissioners Office will be transferred to Sales
and Retail Services. Ken Brenneman, previously Retail Contracts Compliance Manager, will replace
Farshad as the Interim Retail Contracts Manager. This position will become permanent once
Farshad is confirmed by the Oregon Lottery Commission as Assistant Director for Sales and Retail
Services.
It is not my intention currently to replace Ken as Retail Contracts Compliance Manager but will
expect him to continue to fill those responsibilities in addition to the duties of Retail Contracts
Manager.

ATTACHMENT 1

FIRST ANONYMOUS EMAIL

From: AnonymousFeedback.net - no reply
Sent: Monday, February 29, 2016 7:01:42 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
To: Saathoff, Mardilyn
Subject: Anonymous Feedback for You
OREGON LOTTERY BUSINESS PLEASE READ
Dear Commissioner
Me and many of my colleages are baffled + concerned about Lottery appointment of the new
assistant director
This position drives the engine of the 2nd largest source of revenue for the state
It is too important for someone who has no relevant experience but given free reigns by the director
has made questionable decisions w/ retailers, bungled a simple software project, is known for being
devisive
How is this appointment transparent and accountable?
Before you approve the appointment we urge you to ask questions about his cv and to discuss with
sr management and executives at the lottery about their experience working with him
There are more qualified candidates at lottery and beyond
Why not conduct a search?

From AnonymousFeedback.net: This is a one way, anonymous message. You are not able to respond
to the sender and we are not able to tell you who sent you this message.
................................................
This message was sent via AnonymousFeedback.net by an anonymous user. Do not hit reply to this
email.
Don't want these emails anymore? Block your email address:
http://www.anonymousfeedback.net/block-email-confirmation.html?
id=58LglNfl5p6j5pTOqJnb1t2u7dXPpNOn3KKj6KY=
REPORT: http://www.anonymousfeedback.net/index.php?action=report Sent: February 29, 2016,
4:01 pm PST. Sent to: at mardilyn.saathoff@state.or.us.

ATTACHMENT 2

Second Anonymous Email

Zavala, Alisa
From:

Sent:
To:

Subject:

3e3wwq+toqqixn0b354d9jk@guerrillamail.com
Thursday, March 10, 2016 3:49 AM
Telfer, Chris
VLTMP

!Commissioners,
Director Roberts' appointment of Farshad Allahdadi as assistant director in charge of sales, marketing and retail services
has raised deep concerns that are widely shared among staff about the sudden change in the Lottery's executive
management.
Farshad's tenure at the Lottery has been limited to the role of retail contracts manager. He has worked closely with
Director Roberts but not much with anyone else on the executive staff or senior management. As a result, retail contracts
is an area of the Lottery that not many have visibility into in terms of decisions made over the past two years.
The one project that many people at Lottery are aware of is the RMS project, which is an effort Farshad was in charge of
to replace the retailer
management system. He hired and supervised his own project manager and business analyst, even though those
functions reside in IT. He mismanaged his staff (his BA no longer speaks to him) and the project and has caused a bitter
rift between his project team and others at the Lottery. He engaged Microsoft to perform work on the project, all without
having a budget, schedule, or contract in place. The project is now on a correction course.
Given this limited experience working with Farshad, I hope you understand that Lottery teams, especially sales and
marketing, are worried about their ability to perform their jobs and about the direction of the agency. These people are
highly skilled professionals with years of industry experience who run a business with more than a billion dollars in sale a
year . They have been reporting to Stacy Shaw who has years of experience in sales and marketing. What experience
does Farshad bring? What qualification, other than a close relationship with the director? Director Roberts has yet
offered Lottery staff a clear explanation of his decision to replace Stacy with Farshad .
And with this appointment, the person in charge of sales and marketing is also in charge of retailer enforcement. Isn't
there a conflict
We feel that the process has been short of the Lottery's standards of transparency and integrity. This should raise red flags
for you, and if you have quest ions about any of this, you should talk to Major Durbin, DD lparraguirre, Kathy Ortega,
Janell Simmons,Art Kiuttu, Lyndsey Hambelton, Phil Harpster, internal audit, procurement, IT,etc .
By law you must approve the director's appointment of an AD. How would you respond to a query from the public or your
stakeholders, especially for Commissioners who are auditors and CPAs,about your vetting of an appointment which has so
much influence over the Lottery and the state 's revenue?
Best regards.
Sent using GuerrillaMail.com
Block or report abuse: https://www .guerrillamail.com/abuse/?a=QklmDB50V7EZjgumOGOLcwDCA8WCnMJD
ATTACHMENT 3

Mary Wheats Email

From: mary wheat <mkwheat@hotmail.com>
Date: March 13, 2016 at 8:00:59 AM PDT
To: Jack Roberts <jack.roberts@state.or.us>
Subject: Confirmation
Jack,
I am working in Trinidad this week and I will be calling in for the Commissioner's meeting and marketing meeting on Friday. I
will not be able to have a call with you either before the meeting.
I understand there has been a rule suspension concerning the issues with the forms being filled out by hand and the "Lotto"
company. I am looking forward to additional information on this subject and potential effects it could have. I believe it is not
as simple as just getting rid of the existing system and as I said, we need more information and transparency around this
subject.
I also want you to know that I will be voting no on Farshad's confirmation. I based that decision on existing concerns that I
have had for awhile, key staff concerns and a conflict of interest in regards to retail contracts. This has not been an easy
process and I had hoped there would be an expanded search for a replacement but it is obvious that is not going to happen.
It makes me uncomfortable to disagree with a Director and with some one of your experience, but I feel I have no choice due
to the reasons I just mentioned.
I know that nothing I say will change your mind but I thought it was important to tell you out of respect for your position and
you personally.
Mary
Sent from my iPad

Attachment 4

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONER LIZ CARLE

Please describe in detail the dynamics of the RMS Project. Things I would like to see addressed
include:

a. Was Farshad ever the lead person on this project the person making
decisions and responsible for decisions? If not, who was accountable for this
project?
I originally authorized Farshad to hire a project manager and begin to scope a project for the
replacement of RMS (Retailer Management System). In large part, I made this decision because of
the preoccupation of so many people and resources with VLTMP. Farshad and the Retail Contracts
group, however, were not involved in VLTMP and therefore had the time available to initially
scoping out this project and place us in a position to move forward at the appropriate time.
As this effort progressed, he and Stacy Shaw came to see me with the idea of utilizing this as the
first step in a broader application of the Microsoft CRM system, including the HDSS and Security
work streams already envisioned and (in some cases) underway, along with other potential
applications beneficial to the Oregon Lottery.
Because the application to RMS focuses on Retail Contracts of which Farshad was the manager, he
was acting in a largely leadership role during the early period of this project prior to the creation of
the steering committee.

b. When was the steering committee created?

September 15, 2015.

c. Who was on the steering committee? Who selected the persons on the
committee?
I appointed the Steering Committee based on the recommendations of Farshad and Stacy Shaw,
and it consisted of Craig Durbin, Syed Hussain, Kathy Ortega, Stacy Shaw and Farshad Allahdadi.

d. Did Farshad or the steering committee or both decide to engage Microsoft

and what were the respective roles of each in this project?
Microsoft was originally engaged to consult on requirements planning and preparing a scope of
work for the future contract. At the time it was believed that Dell/Workforce One would be engaged
to perform the actual work but before we went to contract with them, Microsoft acquired Dell. The
Steering Committee was responsible for these decisions.

e. Was the project completed on time and on budget? Was the engagement
with Microsoft successful?
The project hasnt even started. We are within the initial budget and it will continue to be included
in the budget for FY17.
Was it determined that this project could not be sole sourced? At what point did that occur (i.e.:
how far along did we go with Microsoft)? If so, did Lottery correct and do an RFP?
Once Microsoft acquired Dell, it is my understanding that it was generally believed that we could
use Microsoft as a sole source provider. Procurement convinced the steering committee and me
that this was not an available option so a couple of weeks ago the steering committee decided to
do an RFP, the process for which is underway now

ATTACHMENT 5

f. I would like to know how you saw Farshads role. Was it leadership or as an
equal to others? Or both at different stages?
This question is somewhat foreign to the way we do things at the Oregon Lottery. We do not utilize
a military style of organization or command structure. All of those included on the Steering
Committee are also members of our Executive Leadership Team and we tend to work in a
collaborative manner in which the leadership on any particular part of a project is determined by
the knowledge, skills, experience and availability of each member.
Farshad, like other members of the steering committee, sometimes leads, sometimes follows,
sometimes assists and sometimes just gets out of the way. Because this phase of the project (RMS)
primarily affected the Retail Contracts, he was more directly involved in the day-to-day effort than
other members of the steering committee, but that does not mean he was leading the others.
g.

If it was leadership, what if any errors do you think were made that led to
concerns about Microsoft and the decision to go for an RFP?

I believe that the mistakes made that led to the disagreement about Microsoft were broadly shared
by the Steering Committee as a whole, most significantly in not meeting regularly and not engaging
Procurement in a timely manner. To be fair, with the exception of Farshad, all of the other Steering
Committee members are also members of the VLMTP steering committee and were largely
preoccupied with VLTMP. Once Procurement became involved and helped identify the need to
proceed with an RFP, we were sufficiently close to go-live on the VLTMP that the RMS project
needed to stand down in any event and thus the time it will take to prepare the RFP, receive
responses and award the contract should be manageable. While some individuals may have other
concerns or complaints about Microsoft, that is not the reason we decided to do an RFP. We are
doing an RFP because Procurement convinced me that an RFP is required for this project.
Finally, Please describe for us the qualities and skills possessed by Farshad that caused you to
appoint him to this position.
First and foremost, Farshad is a good communicator, collaborator and leader. He took over a group
that was already operating at a high level and made it better. He is a fast learner with an ability to
both focus on details and place them into a relevant context. His background at the OLCC as well
as previously in private business seem to have enabled him to relate to the business of Lottery
within the context of our external relationships, particularly our retailers with whom his previous job
and this job deal extensively. He brings with him the same fresh perspective that Roland and I
have tried to instill in an organization that has many long-term employees who are resistant to
change. Contrary to the impression you may be getting from some critics, Farshad is well-liked and
well-respected in the Lottery. I have complete confidence in his ability to help this group become
integrated into the rest of the organization.

Fellow Employees,
About four weeks ago I announced that I was appointing Farshad Allahdadi to the
position formally known as the Assistant Director for Sales, Marketing and Retail
Services.
Considering that I had previously removed Marketing and Research from within that
group and have had them report directly to me since last year, I originally intended
to rename Farshads new position Assistant Director for Sales and Retail Services.
As an assistant director, that appointment and its compensation would have
required the approval of the Lottery Commission.
Upon further reflection, it is my opinion that the revised Sales and Retail Services
position is more comparable to other executive team positions such as Chief
Information Office (Syed Hussain), Chief Financial Officer (Kathy Ortega) and Chief
Human Resources Officer (Janelle Simmons). Although compensated at the same
level as the assistant director positions, appointment to these positions and the
approval of their pay do not need to be confirmed by the Lottery Commission.
Consequently, I am hereby appointing Farshad Allahdadi to the position of Chief
Sales and Retail Services Officer.

Jack Roberts
Oregon Lottery Director
Asst : 503 540-1490
www.oregonlottery.org

ATTACHMENT 6