Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
A former employee of the Sweet Home Elks Lodge has filed suit against the organization alleging “employment discrimination based on sex and for retaliation against the victim of the discrimination after she complained.”
Deborah A. Jensen filed the lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court in Eugene. Named in the suit are former Trustee Butch Winslow, former Exalted Ruler Tim Geil. Former Chairman of the Trustees Burlon Miller, former District Deputy Dave Williams, employee Karen Riddle and member Jody Geil.
Jensen was hired to manage the bar and restaurant at the Elks Lodge, according to the complaint, beginning in April 2005.
She claimed that a trustee of the Elks, Winslow, offensively touched her arm and side and then her hand without invitation or permission while she was working, according to the complaint. Winslow allegedly lifted up her shirt beneath her breast and touched her bare skin and then took her hand and handled her fingers.
She tried to withdraw her hand, but he kept hold of it, the complaint said. He said he was checking her circulation, and then he asked her to come over to his side of the bar and bend over so he could check her circulation in a crude tone of voice with crude facial expressions.
Jensen wrote what happened in the lodge’s incident report log, and from that day until her termination, she claimed, Winslow treated her with hostility, including standing silently in front of her and glaring at her, following her home, voting to fire her, calling her nasty names, telling her to drop the complaint, telling she would never get another job in Sweet Home and making derogatory statements about her to others.
Jensen claimed that the lodge leaders did not promptly nor effectively protect her from retaliation for her complaints.
Gossip and rumors were permitted and tolerated although an investigation by the Elks determined the rules were violated by Winslow.
Jensen claimed that Geil, who was then Exalted Ruler, told her she would be fired if she pursued her complaint. The executive committee did not protect confidential personnel matters, including her complaint of harassment, and the incident log book was circulated among members.
Geil and his father, Jody Geil, stood at the bar harassing her, Jensen claimed. Karen Riddle, an employee of the club supervised by Jensen, openly spoke about being told she was getting Jensen’s job when she was fired.
Jensen claimed Miller responded to her report of the incident by laughing at her and walking away and then refusing to talk with her.
When Jensen sought help fromWilliams, he did not follow through with help, permitting additional retaliation, she claimed.
The Elks Lodge terminated her employment on about June 8, 2005 using the pretext of budget considerations, she said, although the bar and restaurant had made much more money than before her employment began.
“In fact, the board fired her for reporting the sexual harassment and thereafter insisting that her complaint be treated seriously and that she be treated with respect,” the complaint said.
Jensen is seeking compensation for loss of salary, humiliation, intimidation and scoren.
The amount is “left unspecified to allow, depending on how evidence develops, increasing the amount instead of limiting it initially,” said Jensen’s attorney, Roy Smith of Corvallis.
Prior to filing a lawsuit, the complaint had to be handled by both the Bureau of Labor and Industries and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, Smith said.
“There was a BOLI attempt to mediate, and they weren’t able to reach an agreement on the amount of money.”
Williams said he couldn’t speak about the suit.
“No papers have been served, so really no comment,” he said last week.
Kevin Burgess of Eugene is representing the Elks in the lawsuit.