LIHUE — A sexual harassment and employment discrimination suit has been filed in civil court against Captain Andy’s Sailing.
According to court documents, the suit asks the court for declaratory judgment on the matter and asks for compensatory damages and special damages on all counts that will be shown in a jury trial.
Attorney Joseph Rosenbaum, lawyer for the alleged victim, declined to comment for this story.
In a written statement to The Garden Island newspaper, Captain Andy Evans, owner of Captain Andy’s Sailing, said that his company is taking this claim seriously.
“During the term of her employment she, (the alleged victim), participated in dozens of interviews, meetings and evaluations with management and never voiced these concerns either verbally or in writing. In fact, she routinely professed that she loved her job,” Evans said.
The first time his company heard of these issues was two years later when they received her complaint, along with a demand for $45,000 to not file it.
“Oddly, in her complaint, she acknowledges that she routinely violated our safety rules and then goes on to complain that she was terminated for violating those very rules, while causing damage to one of our rafts. We take our safety rules seriously and hold all of our captains accountable regardless of gender,” Evans said, further stating the tour company looks forward to all of the relevant facts of this case coming out at trial.
Court documents state that as a direct and proximate result of unlawful employment practices, the victim suffered extreme mental anguish, outrage, depression, great humiliation and severe anxiety about her future and her ability to support herself while employed with Captain Andy’s sailing.
The lawsuit states the alleged victim suffered painful embarrassment among her relatives and friends, damage to her good reputation, disruption of her personal life, loss of enjoyment of the ordinary pleasures of everyday life and other special damages in an amount which meets the minimal jurisdictional limits of the court.
Two weeks after moving to Kauai, court documents say the alleged victim interviewed for the position and was subsequently offered the job. Eventually, she would become operations manager for the catamaran crew.
Court documents claim of alleged unwanted advances from a senior official within the company, being subjected to jokes pertaining to a sexual nature and male crew members and captains who would stand or watch females in uncomfortable positions while working on the boats.
The suit also claims sex discrimination, stating some of the alleged victim’s male co-workers, who allegedly wouldn’t allow her to complete certain tasks because she is female.
During her time as an employee with Captain Andy’s Sailing, court documents say she received positive peer reviews in performance from all of the captains she trained with during that time, but by March 2015, she was overworked and would eventually be phased out of her management position.
Due to the demotion, court documents say the alleged victim received a massive pay cut.
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Bethany Freudenthal, crime, courts and county reporter, 652-7891, bfreudenthal@thegardenisland.com
Oh my. Sounds like a n’eer-do-well looking for a payday, using harrassmement as the convenient excuse du jour.
…if this is the former Capt. Andy’s employee I think she is, she lived on Kauai for a short time, burned every bridge she walked over, left the island, and conducted herself similarly elsewhere. A total scam artist. It’ll be interesting to see if this suit holds water.
Let da haole fight for her rights!
Don’t judge! What if it was your daughter, sister , or mother? Her claims may be true. let the courts and jury decide.
Two sides to every story and then there’s the truth. Just remember karma’s a fickle b***h. I speak from experience.