Four former employees of a Cottage Grove golf course were sexually harassed by the owner or fired for complaining about it, a Washington County judge has ruled in a lawsuit.
The judge ruled that Mississippi Dunes owner Dr. William Doebler made lewd comments and grabbed women in a sexual way. The harassment occurred in the clubhouse as well as in Doebler’s home, nicknamed “The Brothel.”
The court ruled that part-time workers Traci Johnson, Michelle Johnson and Charlotte Johnson — who are not related — were sexually harassed. In addition, the judge determined that after hearing about the complaints, Doebler fired those three and bar manager Wade Strom.
Judge Mary Hannon awarded each employee damages ranging from $15,000 to $55,000. She fined the golf course business, Links on the Mississippi Inc., an additional $20,000.
The total amount of the awards was $150,000, according to plaintiff attorney David Schlesinger, a partner in the Minneapolis firm Nichols Kaster.
More penalties might be coming. Schlesinger said the next phase of the trial will determine whether to level punitive damages against the business.
The judge dismissed the sexual harassment claims of three other female ex-employees.
Her ruling gives the following account.
In 2014, the 70-year-old Doebler drank while at the golf course clubhouse and was “often intoxicated.”
He had three homes, one of which was next to the golf course. For reasons that are not clear, he and his employees referred to this home as “The Brothel.”
Charlotte Johnson was a guest in that home, and Doebler grabbed her “buttocks with one of his hands and her vaginal area with the other.” In another incident in the clubhouse, he grabbed Michelle Johnson’s bottom.
Doebler often made comments about orgies, and how having children “ruins” and “wrecks” women’s sexual organs.
The judge concluded that Doebler and the golf course business knew about the charges of harassment, but did not respond in any way. The business never investigated the claims, or disciplined Doebler.
This action, wrote the judge, “likely created an environment where sex discrimination was and possibly still is tolerated.”
Doebler remains the owner of the golf course. He did not respond to a telephone message left Tuesday asking for comment.