Women say ex-boss sexually harassed them from '06-'08

By Preston Knight -- Daily Staff Writer

NEW MARKET — Two women formerly employed by the Shenvalee Golf Resort have filed civil lawsuits against the business and an ex-boss, stating that he repeatedly committed sexual battery against them from December 2006 to February 2008 and that the resort failed to act on it.

The suits, filed May 8 in Rockingham County Circuit Court, detail numerous encounters where Donald Martz, formerly the general manager and director of operations at Shenvalee, is accused of making inappropriate comments or having unwanted sexual contact with Betty Cook, Heather McAvaddy and other female employees.

Cook, a Timberville resident, and McAvaddy, of New Market, are each seeking $550,000 in punitive and compensatory damages from Martz and Shenvalee and its registered agent, Allen Johnson. Both women have resigned from their jobs.

The suits were filed in Rockingham County because Martz, who stopped working April 15, lives in Broadway, said attorney Gene Hart, who represents the plaintiffs. Also, Hart practices law in Harrisonburg.

Cook's suit states that Martz was forced to resign as general manager and director of operations at the resort in 2000 because of actions constituting sexual harassment and sexual misconduct by him toward one or more female employees. Hart said information in an anonymous e-mail to The Northern Virginia Daily stating that a New Market woman received a paid settlement at the time is believed to be accurate.

He said Martz is over 60 and his clients are in their 30s.

"Donny has always been a pig — always," said Twilight Stroupe, a former employee at Shenvalee who is not named in the suits. "I'm not even going to repeat some of the things he said to me."

Stroupe worked at the resort from 1991 to 1995, and again in 2006. She said Martz was already there when she was first hired.

After Martz left in 2000, Shenvalee struggled financially, the suits state. He was rehired in 2004, and Cook and McAvaddy were hired that year as well.

By late 2006, Cook's suit states, Martz resumed his past misconduct. On Dec. 12, 2006, he is accused of putting his hand down the front of Cook's blouse in an effort to touch her breast. When she told him to stop, Martz laughed and removed his hand, it states.

On April 28, 2007, Martz accused Cook of having sex with two other employees and made another inappropriate comment, the suit states. On May 30, 2007, he came up behind McAvaddy and grabbed her sides, the suit states.

McAvaddy's suit states that Martz approached her in the parking lot June 15, 2007, grabbed her, kissed her and attempted to insert his tongue in her month. She pulled away and fled.

On June 25, he grabbed Cook's backside, Cook's suit states, and the next day asked her when she last had sex.

One employee approached human resources director Cindy Salyards on July 20 regarding Martz's behavior.

"Salyards stated: 'You girls are so immature' and walked away,'" the suit states.

Two days later, when an employee informed Cook she was going to quit because of Martz, Cook went to his office, it states.

"She is Page County trash," Martz said of the employee, according to the suit. "You people from over there sleep with your brothers. She shouldn't mind a little smack on the ass every once in a while."

On Aug. 31, when Cook and another employee were filling a cooler in the sports bar, the suit states that Martz came up behind them, grabbed each of them between their legs in their crotch and said, "Woo hoo!"

Cook complained to Salyards again in September.

"He doesn't mean anything, it's just how he is," she stated to Cook, according to the suit. "It comes from working in poultry plants around all those West Virginia women."

On Sept. 26, in Cook's office, Martz pulled the legs of an employee apart, stepped between her legs and pulled the female's face down into his genital area, the suit states. Martz said since the woman was married to a Hispanic, his action should not have bothered her, it states.

He grabbed Cook's breasts and put his hands around her waist on separate days in October, the suit states. In November, Cook and the Hispanic employee were at lunch when Martz approached them and talked about feeling their breasts, it states.

Martz harassed McAvaddy on Nov. 22, the suit states.

"[He said]: 'I wouldn't mind [having sex with] you today, it would be a nice Thanksgiving for you and me," the suit states.

On Dec. 4, Martz asked McAvaddy how good she was in bed, it states. She and Cook went to complain to Salyards the next week.

"Salyards told them: 'He doesn't do it to the bigger, unattractive girls,'" the suit states. "'You should take it as a compliment. He doesn't mean anything by it.'"

He harassed an employee Jan. 5 and slapped Cook's backside again Feb. 15, it states. She resigned Feb. 22.

"On February 23, 2008, Martz came to Cook's home, grabbed her by her jacket collar and told her: 'You can't resign, I own you!" the suit states.

Early last month, McAvaddy spoke to Shenvalee's attorney, Gregory T. St. Ours, and discussed Martz's behavior, according to her lawsuit. On April 15, Shenvalee announced his retirement, it states.

In the weeks after her talk with St. Ours, McAvaddy's hours were decreased, it states, and she complained to Salyards. No changes were made, the suit states, and McAvaddy resigned May 5.

Stroupe, who rejoined the resort as a bartender for several months in 2006, said she does not know why Martz's conduct was tolerated for so long.

"It's absolutely impossible for the board of directors not to know," she said. "It's been going on for too many years."

Hart commended his clients for documenting the supposed harassment. He said criminal charges are infrequent in these circumstances because the conduct is typically not viewed as happening in an angry manner, Hart said. That, though, still does not make it right, he said.

"The sad thing is this stuff still goes on in 2008," Hart said. "It's just a damn shame this stuff is still going on."

The defendants have 21 days to respond. Martz and St. Ours did not return calls seeking comment, and Woodstock Mayor Bill Moyers, who serves on the resort's board of directors, said any comment from Shenvalee would have to come from its legal counsel.

Cook said she could not comment.

* Contact Preston Knight at pknight@nvdaily.com