{"id":2263808,"date":"2024-06-10T09:14:01","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T13:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/veterans-nonprofit-to-pay-1-5m-to-12-women\/"},"modified":"2024-06-10T09:18:12","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T13:18:12","slug":"veterans-nonprofit-to-pay-1-5m-to-12-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/veterans-nonprofit-to-pay-1-5m-to-12-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonprofit for veterans agrees to $1.5M settlement with 12 women"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fveterans-nonprofit-to-pay-1-5m-to-12-women%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2263808&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The owner of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-shape-shifting-dc-dark-money-group-disguising-liberal-campaigns-across-country\/\" title=\"The Shape-Shifting DC Dark Money Group Disguising Liberal Campaigns Across Country\">small nonprofit<\/a> in Washington, Thelbert Lawson Jr., and \u200chis organization,\u2062 Operation Veterans Assistance &#038; Humanitarian Aid (OVAHA), have been ordered by a jury to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-video-mexican-cartel-paddles-covid-lockdown-violators-at-christmas-party\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Mexican Cartel Paddles COVID Lockdown Violators at Christmas Party\">pay approximately <\/a>.5 million for sexually harassing\u2063 12 women. This judgment\u2064 is a result of \u2063a civil rights lawsuit\u200c filed in 2022\u2064 by Attorney General Bob Ferguson, alleging Lawson violated the Washington Law\u2064 Against Discrimination. OVAHA, which runs two thrift\u200b stores, is managed by a board that\u200d includes Lawson, his wife, and their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/russian-police-warn-against-protests-for-prison-release-of-alexei-navalny\/\" title=\"Russian police warn against protests for prison release of Alexei Navalny\">close associates<\/a>. The lawsuit detailed unwelcome physical \u2063contact and\u200b harassment of seven employees. \u2064Aggravating the situation,\u200c the stores \u2064are notably overseen by\u2063 Lawson&#8217;s personal network, complicating\u2064 internal oversight. Attorney General Ferguson condemned the actions as \u201crepulsive, inexcusable and illegal,\u201d praising the victims&#8217; bravery for speaking\u2064 out, and \u200chighlighted his team&#8217;s \u200ccommitment to achieving justice for them.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 The owner of a small Washington-based veterans nonprofit is in hot water after a jury ordered on Thursday that he and the business pay approximately $1.5 million for sexually harassing 12 women.<\/p>\n<p>The decision stems from a civil rights lawsuit filed by the state\u2019s Attorney General, Bob Ferguson, in 2022; his complaint alleged that Thelbert Lawson Jr., CEO and founder of Operation Veterans Assistance &#038; Humanitarian Aid, had violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>Lawson\u2019s OVAHA operates two businesses, the Veterans Warehouse Thrift Store in Wenatchee and the Veterans Thrift Store in Kennewick. Both are overseen by a board consisting of himself, his wife and other family members and friends.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened at OVAHA is repulsive, inexcusable and illegal,\u201d Ferguson said in a news release. \u201cI want to thank the workers, volunteers, and members of the public for their courage in speaking up. My team fought for them, and together, we won.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The jury concluded that Lawson sexually harassed seven of his employees, making unwarranted physical contact while frequently questioning their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-view-hosts-test-positive-for-covid-19-mid-show-leave-stage-just-before-kamala-harris-interview\/\" title=\"WATCH: \u2018View\u2019 Hosts Test Positive For COVID-19 Mid-Show, Leave Stage Just Before Kamala Harris Interview\">sex lives<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to the release, Lawson would ask the women \u201chow often they have sex, whether they use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ohio-state-university-hosts-sex-week-sponsored-by-planned-parenthood\/\" title=\"Ohio State University Hosts \u2018Sex Week\u2019 Sponsored By Planned Parenthood\">sex toys<\/a>, requesting sexual favors, and asking employees to expose their bodies to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, after being rejected by one employee, Lawson called to inform her that she was no longer on the schedule, warning that he \u201cwas untouchable\u201d and \u201cknew police officers and judges,\u201d according to the release.<\/p>\n<p>The Jury also found that Lawson sexually harassed and even assaulted some volunteers and other people who shopped at the stores; one woman in particular managed to get a restraining order after Lawson \u201clocked her in a basement room with him and she had to run past him to escape,\u201d according to the release.<\/p>\n<p>He was later convicted of criminal assault in 2021 after a different incident in which he trapped a person in his office and forcibly dry-humped her. According to the release, OVAHA posted Lawson\u2019s appeal bond not long after, so he only spent 75 days in jail.<\/p>\n<p>After he got out, Lawson returned to OVAHA despite everything that happened.<\/p>\n<p>However, he likely knew a more twisted fate was yet to come. According to the release, Lawson held a staff meeting after finding out that an employee had contacted a lawyer about what was happening.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t piss me off, I know how to make your lives a living hell,\u201d Lawson said to his employees at the meeting, according to the release.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thursday\u2019s decision ordered Lawson and OVAHA to pay $1.45 million to the 12 women who he harassed, as well as a little over $17,000 in back wages to employees.<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson expressed intent to file a post-trial motion that could prevent Lawson from reassuming a position of power to supervise or harass women in the future.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Washington-based veterans nonprofit owner must pay about $1.5 million after a jury found him guilty of sexually harassing 12 women. The verdict follows a civil rights lawsuit initiated by State Attorney General Bob Ferguson in 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2263809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24157529917767.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2263808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24157529917767.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2263808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2263809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2263808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2263808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2263808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}