Village Candle Owner Under Scrutiny For “Relentless Sexual Harassment”
In one of the most outrageous displays of improper management that the New York sexual harassment attorneys have seen, the owner of Village Candle in Portland is facing multiple EEOC charges of sexual harassment and labor law violations.
Village Candle founder and president Paul Aldrich is being accused of a “pervasive pattern of severely offensive and relentless sexual harassment of female employees” by three top ranking former employees of the Portland company. Contained in three separate sexual harassment lawsuits, Aldrich is facing harassment complaints that range from offensive comments to assault and battery. Aldrich’s lawyer has not yet read the complaints but “absolutely denies that there was any sexual harassment involving the claimants in this case.” His legal team goes on to speculate that “once the case is litigated, it will show that the women acted in collusion with each other.”
Cynthia Rowe is the former vice president of sales and marketing for Village Candle. Her daughter, Cassie Laughlin, formerly worked as a retail sales manager while Heidi MacDonald was employed as debt collector for Village Candle. These three women are alleging misconduct in three different cases and are seeking a trial jury and paid damages.
Mr. Aldrich is accused of forcing female employees to have after-hours dinners with him, asking employees to masturbate in front of him and inquiring about inappropriate matters like anal sex and whether they shaved their pubic hair. Before filing their respective sexual harassment lawsuits, each of the three women involved in the case filed charges of discrimination with the Maine Human Rights Commission and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They were granted a “notice of the right to sue” letter in March.
Aldrich and his legal team have up to 21 days, from June 6th, to respond to complaints.
The sexual harassment lawyers of Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC handles a multitude of cases that involve sexual harassment in New York City and the greater New York City area. For further New York sexual harassment attorney information, please feel free to call us at 212-587-0760 or toll-free at 1-877-4NYLAWS or email at dtslaws@msn.com.