Gore being sued by Ex-Employee!

I will not comment on this, but I thought you would all find this interesting.....

Ex-worker at Gore ski center in North Creek sues for sexual harassment

By DON LEHMAN dlehman@poststar.com The Post-Star | Posted: Thursday, August 19, 2010 4:43 pm | (0) Comments

A Chestertown woman has filed a federal sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against the management of Gore Mountain Ski Center and the state agency that runs the resort.

The lawsuit filed by Melissa Atkinson alleges that she was sexually harassed by a supervisor who was fired, but that Gore's general manager and assistant manager of mountain services retaliated against her by deciding not to rehire her a year later.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Albany, comes after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated Atkinson's complaint and "found reasonable cause to believe" that Atkinson was the victim of retaliation after her complaints of sexual harassment.

The former Gore employee whom Atkinson accused of sexually harassing her, Davd Bulmer, called the allegations "totally untrue" but said he could not comment further. He said he was not aware of the lawsuit until a reporter told him about it.

"It's just a disgruntled ex-employee," he said.

ORDA spokesman Jon Lundin said the agency had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment on it.

"We will have a response at the appropriate time," he said.

Atkinson, who does not seek a specific amount of damages in the lawsuit, was employed by Gore from 2003 until the spring of 2008, and ran the "Kids Klub" youth skiing program at the Johnsburg ski center for her last three ski seasons there.

The lawsuit alleges:

* Bulmer, at the time Gore's mountain services manager, touched her breasts and buttocks, made sexual advances and "repeatedly and continuously engaged in unwelcome and offensive gender-based behavior" that included "sexually inappropriate comments" between 2005 and the 2007-2008 ski season.

* Atkinson complained to ORDA officials, and Bulmer resigned in November 2007 after an internal investigation.

After his departure, assistant mountain services manager Gail Setlock "was angry at plaintiff for complaining of sexual harassment" and Bulmer was provided with free ski passes to the mountain.

* Bulmer continued to sexually harass Atkinson during his ski visits, and she complained to Gore general manager Mike Pratt.

Pratt, however, told Atkinson "Dave Bulmer no longer works at the mountain, but he has a right to be there to ski. You will have to get used to it. Bulmer isn't going to move away."

* Atkinson was told at the end of the 2007-08 ski season that she would be brought back to run the Kids Klub next ski season, but on June 29, 2008, she was notified that qualifications for the job had been changed by Setlock and Pratt "to include qualifications that plaintiff's supervisor knew plaintiff did not possess." Setlock called her and told her not to apply for the job, according to the lawsuit.

The EEOC has not returned numerous phone calls about the case in recent months after The Post-Star was made aware of the agency's finding on Atkinson's complaint this spring.

Pratt did not return a phone call Thursday. Atkinson's lawyers also did not return a phone call for comment.

Never a dull moment at Gore.

While I KNEW Mike would never comment on this, I felt obligated to reach out.

As expected, he said "I cannot comment on this matter, at this time."

I'm sure the full story will come out.

There goes the snowmaking budget!!!

I'll add, whatever happened, I hope the truth comes out and justice is served. That could mean the plaintiff OR the defendant.

This could cost Uncle Mikey his job.

Most likely the matter will be settled out of court and we'll never hear any official announcement.

This, unlike a lot of other stuff on this and other forums, is DEAD serious.   No one will be talking.   This can easily cost jobs, careers.    Gore/ORDA/State of NY.     Deep deep pockets.    My guess, this is causing sleepless nights.    Founded or not.  

I have another post, but want to sit on it for a while and let it rest.    Does not dish any dirt, just gives perspective in the form of some things to consider that I am familar with.      Dont believe the newspapers will pickup anything on this either.    Think you got all the info you are going to get, except maybe some stuff on the DL.  

Example:  This male accused, do any of you know him, does he ski free, is he a friend of the mountian...or some no name.  

Not saying anyone should post this kind of stuff....  Again, this is dead serious stuff.    

Some things are better left unsaid, or at least not on the internet.