Peyton Stover: Woman sues California golf club for 'encouraging' affluent members to sexually harass her for profit
TW: Sexual harrasment. Discretion is advised.
ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: A 26-year-old woman, who served drinks at a posh golf club in Southern California, is suing the business on the grounds that she endured years of sexual harassment and abuse from both affluent members and certain male staff members. She filed a lawsuit against the club for more than $15 million, claiming that over the course of two years, golfers there often touched her inappropriately with management's approval.
Peyton Stover of Long Beach, worked for two years at the Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach, Orange County, serving beverages to golfers while they were out on the course. She claims that those golfers would frequently grope her and beg her to lift up her top, provided her with booze and drugs, and sent her dozens of sexually explicit texts. When Stover complained to James Poper, her boss, and Mitchel Queen, the club manager, they successfully managed to defend the practice, saying that the golfers had paid a premium to become club members. Stover claims that the club encouraged such conduct and prioritized profits over its legal duties towards its employees.
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The Lawsuit:
In the lawsuit obtained by the Orange County Register, Stover claims that golfers would frequently touch her, give her booze and drugs, and then later send her sexually graphic text messages. The golfers knew her number because they had used it to order drinks while on the 128-acre course. Members would continue to message her with graphic sexual content and requests to see her breasts after their games were over.
Stover claims Poper told her that being objectified increased her earnings and that club members could treat staff however they pleased without facing consequences due to the high membership fees. "Being objectified always makes you more money," Poper allegedly said. "[Stover] understood this to mean that members were allowed to treat Old Ranch employees however they wished without repercussion or recourse and that Old Ranch condoned, ratified, and even encouraged this conduct as part of its business model in order to churn a profit," the lawsuit states.
She also alleges that Poper himself participated in the harassment by sending her sexually graphic texts, including one message in which he inquired about the color of her underwear. The lawsuit describes how Queen acknowledged Poper had harassed other female employees after Stover brought her allegations to his attention, but did nothing to put a stop to it. "On each occasion, Queen merely confirmed that he was aware that Poper had sexually harassed other female Old Ranch employees and that his conduct was creepy. However, he took no action against Poper to cease this conduct," the lawsuit states.
'I was really scared and nervous, didn't have any support'
Stover described how she felt helpless because she needed the job and had no choice but to keep working at the club. In the lawsuit, she described numerous instances where male team members crossed boundaries with her, including how one of them allegedly behaved inappropriately against her for eight months. "I was really scared and nervous, didn't have any support, and was convinced they were not going to do anything," Stover said, as per Daily Mail.
The member emailed Stover numerous articles and adverts for sex toys in an effort to persuade her to start a business selling sex toys. Another club member is accused of kissing Stover, throwing money at her, sending her graphic texts, and wanting to move into a room above his garage. A third allegedly pushed Stover against a golf cart while pouring wine on her, offered to pay $300 for the chance to see Stover's breasts, and lifted her top in front of other club members.
"It's damn egregious. When you are in management, you have to protect employees and have a duty to investigate complaints. Those at [the club] failed miserably and, in fact, doubled down," attorney Raymond Babaian said. In addition to other wage-and-hour breaches, including underpayment of wages, the complaint also asks for restitution for gender discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, careless hiring and retention, deliberate infliction of emotional distress, and other wrongdoings.