The suit against the Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. property, which is owned by The Bay Club Company, was filed by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after the agency and the club failed to reach a pre-litigation settlement. The agency announced the suit in a news release that outlined charges against an unnamed general manager that included complaints from female employees about groping, solicitation of nude photos, requiring sexual favors for job benefits and threatening to fire or cut hours for those who refused.
Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. is facing a federal lawsuit accusing the club of failing to protect female employees from a general manager who allegedly groped them, solicited nude photographs and even offered one woman to male customers for lap dances, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed the lawsuit on August 9thafter the agency and the club failed to reach a pre-litigation settlement, the agency announced in a news release (https://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/8-9-18.cfm). The lawsuit alleges the club violated laws against sexual harassment and discrimination and retaliation against employees who complain, The Union-Tribune reported.
The general manager, who was not named in the release, was the club’s sole decision-maker and could hire and fire employees at will, according to the EEOC. He allegedly used his power to require sexual favors in exchange for job benefits and threatened to fire or cut the work hours of employees who refused. The hostile workplace allegedly had some of the women feel their only option was to quit their jobs.
“The allegations of this case are especially shocking, being that a general manager was involved,” Christopher Green, director of the EEOC’s office in San Diego, said in a statement. “Having ultimate hiring authority does not permit leveraging that power to take from those who work for you.”
The EEOC also alleges the manager choked one of the club’s female employees, The Union-Tribune reported.
Because the manager’s sexual harassment was so prevalent at the club, other male employees felt free to sexually harass their female coworkers as well, the EEOC alleged.
Annie Appel, Executive Vice President for The Bay Club Company (TBCC), a group of private member clubs including Fairbanks Ranch Country Club, provided a statement to The Union-Tribune in response to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
“The Bay Club Company is aware of the EEOC’s allegations and will respond in a timely manner to the claims made in the complaint,” the statement said. “TBCC is committed to a safe, harassment free work environment for everyone.”
The EEOC’s lawsuit seeks compensation and punitive damages for the alleged victims and a court order to prevent Fairbanks Ranch from future discrimination, The Union-Tribune reported.
The Bay Club Company acquired Fairbanks Ranch CC in 2016 (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2016/07/bay-club-company-acquires-two-california-country-clubs/), after a proposed sale to a group that included professional golfer Phil Mickelson fell through two years earlier (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2014/11/mickelsons-bid-fairbanks-ranch-cc-falls/).
The Bay Club Company was acquired in July by Kohlberg, Kravits, Roberts & Co. (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2018/07/kkr-acquires-bay-club-company/)
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