Portland attorney Ross Day is being sued by a former employee for $450,000, claiming sexual harassment by discussing the book Fifty Shades of Grey and sending the attorney erotic emails, according to The Oregonian.
Day has been working in the state of Oregon as an attorney since 2000 and became prominent by representing the Oregon Family Council. The Oregon Family Council opposes gay marriage. Day is also a former executive director of Common Sense for Oregon.
The lawsuit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court last week by Andrea R. Meyer. Meyer claims that she was employed at Day Law Group and had no issues with Day until December of 2013. The two traveled to Medford for a three-day trial and was told by Day that she ‘smelled nice.’ She claims Day also said he would leave his adjoining hotel room unlocked after he went to bed in case she had any questions.
According to the lawsuit, Day discussed Fifty Shades of Grey with Meyer and even sent her an email with a link to the sexual technique, “Girlfriend Activation System.”
“(Meyer) watched the beginning of the video and, disgusted, did not finish the video,” the lawsuit states, which also states that Day “often falsely suggested to (Meyer) that her husband did not appreciate her.”
The lawsuit also claims that Day used a fake name to send inappropriate emails to Meyer about his fantasies, one of which was a workplace affair. Meyer looked into the IP address and discovered it belonged to Day. She confronted Day about it and he admitted to the emails and apologized.
On February 24, Day held a meeting for the entire staff and announced that “he had been sending sexual emails to many people and apologized to everyone. However, the only person in the office who received sexually inappropriate emails from Defendant Day was (Meyer),” according to the lawsuit.
Meyer quit her job on May 2 due to the sexual harassment from Day. She is asking for $450,000 for lost wages and emotional distress.