Lawsuit Alleges Serial Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination by Male Leadership at Eastside Distilling

In one instance alleged in the lawsuit, two male employees were at a dinner with one of the plaintiffs, and the two males repeatedly made lewd and sexual remarks about their waitress.

Whisky. (Pixabay)

Two former employees of Eastside Distilling allege in a lawsuit that male upper management repeatedly sexually harassed the two female subordinates over the span of several years, denied them promotions based on gender, and refused to properly deal with complaints about boorish and hostile behavior.

The lawsuit, filed by Portland-based the JJH Law group in Multnomah County Circuit Court on behalf of Justina Thoreson and Laurie Branch, describes serial sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination by male employees that took place over the span of several years at Eastside Distilling, a Nevada spirits company that operates two distillery locations in Southeast and Northwest Portland under the same name.

The suit was first reported this afternoon by Eater Portland.

The lawsuit alleges that the company's CEO at the time, Grover Wickersham, made inappropriate and sexually charged comments about the plaintiffs' appearance while drunk at a holiday party in late 2017.

Wickersham stepped down as CEO in May of this year, and left the Board in August of 2019. He is now a consultant for the company.

About a year later, the lawsuit alleges that Wickersham texted Branch while drunk at a bar and asked where she was. Branch did not respond. According to the lawsuit, when she shared the encounter with her supervisor he told her to "leave it alone."

"At the time of this incident, Eastside Distilling did not have a human resources department or formally instituted complaint process for employees," the lawsuit reads.

In 2018 when a higher level position was opened up, both plaintiffs allege they were not seriously considered for the job by President Robert Manfredonia despite receiving glowing recommendations from the person who previously held the position. The lawsuit alleges this was because "Plaintiffs and other female coworkers understood Mr. Wickersham simply preferred to work with males."

"Under Wickersham and Manfredonia's leadership, Plaintiffs' witnessed unqualified male applicants repeatedly hired and promoted over female candidates with more experience, and on information and belief, this pattern continues today," the lawsuit reads.

Despite multiple verbal and written complaints that the  two plaintiffs submitted after several incidents over the years, the lawsuit alleges that no corrective or disciplinary action was taken.

According to the stories described in the lawsuit, sexual harassment by several male employees manifested in a myriad of ways.

One incident described in the document describes a dinner that Thoreson says she attended with two of her male colleagues, one of whom was Armain Austin—the man who had been selected for the promotion earlier that year over both plaintiffs. The two men allegedly engaged in inappropriate banter about their waitress and when one of the two men said he wanted to sleep with her, the other man said, "Been there, fucked that."

The lawsuit alleges that Thoreson was also routinely harassed for being a mother, and was told on multiple occasions by male superiors that she couldn't handle certain duties because of her pregnancy.

Inappropriate emails were routinely sent to plaintiffs and Austin's intimate relationship with another coworker, where "she would spoon-feed Austin and sit on his lap" made the plaintiffs "uneasy," according to the lawsuit.

In April of 2019, Manfredonia said in a staff meeting that the two plaintiffs were having issues with Austin—and asked them to air it out by explaining their complaints directly to Austin. The plaintiffs allegedly declined, fearing retaliation.

After several more months of submitting written complaints regarding lewd comments by male staff and denied promotions based on gender, Thoreson and Branch were fired in July of this year, the lawsuit says.

In the wake of the terminations, one female employee said that one of the males in upper management had said that the firings of the two plaintiffs were premeditated "for weeks," according to the lawsuit.

Eastside Distilling could not be reached for comment.

The plaintiffs are seeking up to $560,000 in damages and have requested a trial by jury.

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