As we noted last week, the City of Portland and its parking meter manager (now under federal investigation) were in discussions at one point about his possibly leaving his city position. By late 2008 or early 2009, the city had rejected Ellis McCoy's offer to depart in exchange for a severance package, according to today's O.

We had noted that he and his supervisors had apparently discussed a "severance issue" in late August 2008. McCoy filed his formal threat to sue the city in November 2008. Today's O story reports that McCoy then received "an unflattering performance evaluation" in February 2009, and at that time, no settlement of his claim was in sight. But in November 2009, he reportedly received a merit raise, after the city apparently began a search for a "management coach" for him.

Last week, McCoy told a television reporter that he decided not to sue the city because it would be unethical to sue one's employer. But could it be he dropped the suit in exchange for "coaching" and the raise?

Giving him a raise after negatively reviewing the job he was doing isn't what one would normally expect a manager to do, except under some sort of duress.