Nine former seasonal employees who say they were groped or sexually harassed while working at Oregon’s famed Black Butte Ranch filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking more than $13 million from the destination resort.

The suit centers on the workplace conduct of Michael Woosley, a server for 38 years at the ranch bar, Robert’s Pub, who was fired in July 2022 after four of the plaintiffs named in the suit and other workers went to the police, according to a police report.

Woosley, 77, told investigators he was known as “Mr. Black Butte” because of his popularity with owners of the private homes surrounding the ranch and denied the allegations made by the employees.

“I don’t understand why these kids have ganged up on me,” he said, according to a police report written by Black Butte police Officer Craig Cunningham.

Deschutes County prosecutors charged Woosley with sexually abusing two of the plaintiffs and harassing the third in November 2022. Woosley cut a plea deal, was convicted of third-degree sexual abuse and harassment and was sentenced to 30 days in jail last June, court records show.

Woosley wasn’t immediately available for comment Thursday.

The 1,800-acre ranch located northwest of Sisters is a ritzy vacation spot known for its golf courses, spa, fishing and other recreational activities

Former busboy Brody Anderson told police that Woosley made numerous sexually charged comments and groped him repeatedly — then tried to laugh it off as a joke when Anderson, now 20, told him to stop.

Woolsey was convicted of sexually abusing Anderson, who spoke at a news conference after the suit was filed.

“He tried to make us question our sexuality,” Anderson said, saying Woolsey was known to inapporpriately touch the teenage boys who typically worked at the ranch each summer.

Anderson said he and others reported the conduct to Black Butte management but that Woosley got off with a “slap on the wrist” and that employees were discouraged from contacting authorities.

Jason Kafoury, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, said he’s meeting with the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office and will ask prosecutors to bring new charges against Woosley involving the other six plaintiffs.

The allegations included in the suit range from 2021 to Woosley’s firing in 2022.

The district attorney’s office and a spokesperson for Black Butte Ranch didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com or @pdxzane.

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