Lawsuit by employee of Ballantyne Country Club alleges sexual harassment cover-up
Administrators at the Ballantyne Country Club failed to protect a Charlotte woman from repeated sexual harassment by the club’s former general manager and chief operating officer, according to a lawsuit she filed in federal court.
The woman, who resigned from the south Charlotte country club in February, alleged in a court filing last month that the club’s former general manager made repeated “derogatory and sexually explicit” comments about her to two other administrators at the club. Neither of the administrators reported the general manager’s comments to the club’s leadership, human resources department or the woman herself, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Instead, the lawsuit alleges, the woman learned about the general manager’s comments in January when she asked a fellow employee why her colleagues kept checking if she was okay. She also learned that he made similar comments about a female board member, and that this misconduct went unreported, too, the lawsuit alleges.
Though the woman reported the general manager’s comments to human resources and the club’s board president, he did not face consequences for his comments, according to the lawsuit. The club fired the general manager in mid-January due to an unrelated investigation, the lawsuit adds.
An administrator for the Ballantyne Country Club did not respond to a voicemail and two emails requesting comment.
The general manager, who is not named as a defendant in the suit, said in a phone call with The Charlotte Observer that he wasn’t aware of the lawsuit and no longer lived in North Carolina.
“I would’ve never made any comments to any staff member of that nature,” he said.
Career priorities
In February of this year, the club allowed the general manager to attend a five-day networking conference in Tampa, Florida, as his attendance had already been paid for, according to the lawsuit. Another conference attendee was the administrator the lawsuit alleges failed to report the general manager’s comments. That administrator also had been promoted to interim general manager.
Fearing for her safety, the woman decided not to attend the conference, which she characterized in the lawsuit as a “valuable career networking opportunity.” The club prioritized the general manager’s career advancement over hers, the lawsuit alleges, prompting the woman’s resignation in late February.
The woman then filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, which in March granted her the right to sue the club. She filed the lawsuit last month through Title VII, a federal law that prohibits employee discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion or age.
Before the woman filed the lawsuit, the country club offered her an “unreasonable” settlement, according to the complaint.
