4 more added to Black Butte Ranch sex abuse lawsuit
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Four more victims of alleged sex abuse by a server at the Black Butte Ranch have been added to a lawsuit that now seeks $19.5 million, attorney Jason Kafoury said.
The original lawsuit filed in June listed nine victims who accuse Michael Glenn Woosley, a long-time server at Robert's Pub at Black Butte Ranch, of various and ongoing incidents of sex abuse. Since that lawsuit was filed, four more victims came forward to join the suit. All 13 victims worked at Robert's Pub.
In a statement, Kafoury said, "The Black Butte police department has interviewed many more potential victims since we filed the lawsuit over the summer, is still in the process of interviewing more victims, and some of those reports are now with the Deschutes County DA’s office for potential new criminal charges."
According to the lawsuit, Woosley worked for Robert's Pub for more than 30 years and was known as "Mr. Black Butte" by most everyone who worked there.
In response to the suit, Black Butte Ranch released a statement Wednesday, stating in part:
"We acknowledge the difficulty and bravery of all the plaintiffs in their willingness to share their
stories and pursue these claims. Black Butte Ranch takes these claims extremely seriously and
we reiterate our support for any employee who experienced harassment from Woosley. We
share the outrage of our employees at his actions.
Creating a safe and welcoming environment for employees, homeowners and guests is our
greatest priority at the Ranch. We do not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination of any
kind. We will continue to uphold high standards of conduct for all team members and welcome
all members of our community to immediately report inappropriate behavior to the Black Butte
Ranch leadership team."
Court documents state each of the 13 plaintiffs is seeking $1.5 million for the total of $19.5 million.
KOIN 6 reached out to the defendants named in the suit for comment. This story will be updated if we hear back.