Resort Owner Sued for the Second Time by Federal Agency for Harassing Female Employees
SEATTLE -Two resorts located along the Columbia River violated federal law when their owner repeatedly subjected female employees to sexual harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.
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According to the lawsuit, female employees at both Bonneville Hot Springs and Carson Hot Springs Resort and Golf Course faced repeated attempts to get them alone to subject them to lewd sexual comments and propositions, inappropriate touching and groping by owner Perfil Cam. Cam, along with his daughter Marfa Scheratski, owned and managed the two resorts. Despite repeated complaints to various members of human resources and management, the resorts failed to stop the harassment.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. The EEOC filed its lawsuit (EEOC v. Bonneville Hot Springs, Inc. and Carson Hot Springs Resort, LLC., Case No. 3:19-cv-05409) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its voluntary conciliation process. The EEOC seeks money damages for the female workers and injunctive relief to remedy and prevent sexual harassment from recurring.
This is the agency's second lawsuit involving Bonneville Hot Springs Inc. The earlier lawsuit was settled on behalf of group of female employees for $470,000 in 2008. (EEOC, et. al. v. Bonneville Hot Springs, Inc. Case No. C07-5321-FDB.)