Photo: Raymond Babaian, Valiant Law
Stover, originally from Washington state, was hired to serve refreshments at the upscale golf club in April 2019, her lawyer, Raymond Babaian said in a statement. However, within months of starting the job, Stover “complained that members repeatedly touched and propositioned her and forced her to drink with them.”
Raymond Babaian, Valiant Law
“I was really scared and nervous,” Stover said in a statement to PEOPLE. “I didn’t have any support, and I was convinced they were not going to do anything to protect me.”
She claimed when she approached management about the harassment, their response implied club members “pay enough” to do “as they wish,” Babaian said in a statement.
PEOPLE also reached out to Old Ranch’s parent company, Invited, formerly known as ClubCorp, for comment, but did not immediately hear back. The company is based in Dallas, Texas, and owns or operates more than 200 golf and country clubs worldwide, theirwebsitesays.
According to court documents, Stover is pursuing economic damages above $5,000,000 and compensatory and non-economic damages over $10,000,00. Additionally, she claims Old Ranch required her to work long hours without meals or rest breaks, and she is seeking compensation for underpayment of wages and “other wage-and-hour violations.”
RELATED VIDEO: Walmart to Pay Oregon Customer $4.4M for Racial Profiling After He Was Allegedly ‘Spied’ on
“A country club is not a ‘gentleman’s lounge’ where women are just there to be objectified,” he continued. “No employee should have to submit to inhumane and degrading acts in exchange for having a job that pays her living expenses. The club took advantage of an inexperienced and scared employee because it wanted to put profits over safety.”
Babaian said Old Ranch viewed Stover as “another revenue-producing tool to help the club boost the bottom line.”
Stover called her time at the golf club “the most traumatic experience I ever had.”
“It took a long time after leaving that place for me to feel stronger,” she told PEOPLE in a statement. “This really hurt my feelings of self-worth.”
source: people.com
