SANTA ANA, Calif. – A former employee of a Seal Beach country club filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging she was repeatedly sexually harassed until she finally quit.
Peyton Stover was hired as a beverage cart attendant at Old Ranch Country Club in April 2019 when she was 23. Her lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court alleges assault, battery, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination and harassment, wrongful termination, negligent supervision, unlawful business practices, failure to provide meal and rest breaks, and overtime wages.
The suit names Sequoia Management Services, Clubcorp USA, and two employees of the country club, James Poper and Mitchel Queen.
The club’s general manager did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stover alleged she was asked in her job interview if she had a “thick skin” and “could keep her mouth shut.”
When she was being trained she was warned club members would “hit on her” and “attempt to force her to consume alcohol,” the lawsuit alleges.
Stover said during her employment she was groped by club members with one man bending her over a golf cart.
Stover “complained to Poper regarding this egregious and ongoing conduct, however, Poper informed (her) that he was not going to do anything about it because members pay too much money to become club members,” the lawsuit alleged.
Stover had “recently moved to California alone and needed a means of supporting herself,” according to the lawsuit. “She strongly feared losing this position and as a result, felt forced to endure the egregious conduct,” according to the lawsuit.
Stover also alleged that Poper, her supervisor, flirted with her. He would send her messages asking the color of her underwear, she alleged.
When she said she felt like she was being objectified, Poper responded that “being objectified always makes you more money,” the lawsuit alleged.
Stover complained to another supervisor, Queen, who said he was aware of the harassment and that he felt it was “creepy,” but he took no action to stop it, the lawsuit alleged.
One club member would rub Stover’s back or touch her legs and try to kiss her, she alleged. He would also message her about sex toys while she was off work, she alleged.
Another member also sent sexually explicit text messages to her and invited her to move into a spare room at his home, she alleged.
Another club member said he would pay her $300 if she showed him her breasts, she alleged.
“He also physically assaulted and battered her by lifting up her shirt, bending her over in front of other club members, and forcing her to drink by pushing her against a golf cart and pouring alcohol on her,” she alleged in the suit.
Many others would ask her out with one saying that “everyone is drooling over you,” the suit alleges. She was also offered drugs and alcohol several times, she alleged.
