SEQUIM — A second complaint of discrimination that was filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that focused on the Sequim unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula has been dropped, the top club official said Monday.
The EEOC notified the club last week that “they had discontinued the investigation and that the complaint has been closed,” Jerry Sinn, board president of the Sequim club, said Monday.
“We cross each bridge as we get there but, you know, I’ve never felt good about any of this,” Sinn said.
“It wasn’t a matter of winning or losing.”
The organization had been notified in mid-October that a charge-of-discrimination complaint by former club employee Lindsey A. Richardson, which included sexual harassment allegations against former club volunteer and current School Board candidate Stephen Rosales, was no longer being investigated by the EEOC.
Richardson had said that after she made allegations against Rosales to club officials, they did not address her concerns.
Sinn, saying the second complaint also was based on a charge of “sex discrimination,” would not name the complainant or discuss its allegations in detail.
“There were two complaints filed,” Sinn said.
“There are no complaints now.”
The second complaint was filed prior to the EEOC issuing a finding, unlike Richardson’s complaint, which the EEOC acted on in deciding to drop its investigation.
Richardson, who no longer lives on the North Olympic Peninsula, had said Rosales had made inappropriate sexual comments to her and had screamed at her.
Rosales has vigorously denied the allegations.
The two people who filed the complaints with the EEOC have 90 days to file suit in federal district court.
Gig Harbor lawyer Terry Venneberg, representing Richardson, and Seattle lawyer Gina Wolverton, representing the Boys & Girls Club, did not return calls for comment Monday.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission does not make complaints public unless the EEOC files suit in federal district court based on an allegation, spokesman Rudy Hurtado said in an earlier interview.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb
@peninsuladailynews.com.
