10 Count Federal Lawsuit Accuses Paul Mihailides of The Preserve of Sexual Harassment

10 Count Federal Lawsuit Accuses Paul Mihailides of The Preserve of Sexual Harassment

A former top executive at The Preserve Sporting Club & Residences claims in a ten-count federal lawsuit that she was repeatedly sexually harassed and publicly humiliated by the CEO and founder of the company, Paul Mihailides.

The Preserve Sporting Club & Residences claims it is the “most amenity-rich, life-enhancing resort oasis in the nation.”

It is located in Richmond, Rhode Island.

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According to plaintiff Alison McDaniel's lawsuit, she was hired for a top marketing position at The Preserve, and alleges she was then subject to nearly non-stop graphic sexual harassment.

“Mihailides hired McDaniel to perform the following job duties at The Preserve: Acting as a Spokesperson for The Preserve; acting in commercials; creating and appearing in videos for social media; providing her image for print, social media, advertisements, and magazines; acting as the social media manager; appearing at special events; appearing in videos for the Sporting Shoppe located on The Preserve property," and other marketing assignments, according to the lawsuit.

But McDaniel alleges in the lawsuit Mihailides and the company created a hostile abusive work environment in which Mihailides repeatedly sexually harassed her -- and retaliated against her when she rebuffed his advances. 

“Beginning on McDaniel’s first visit to The Preserve, she became concerned with Mihailides’ behavior towards her, which she felt was flirty, overly-friendly, and inappropriate.  McDaniel expressed her concerns about Mihailides to a friend mutual to her and Mihailides, who assured her that Mihailides was ‘happily married’ and that she had nothing to worry about,” states the lawsuit.

McDaniel's attorney Mark Gagliardi when reached on Wednesday, said, "the allegations speak for themselves."

 

 

Tried to Kiss Her and Requests for Sexual Favors

The suit by McDaniels claims that Mihailides repeatedly tried to kiss her and asked for sexual favors.

“During McDaniel’s employment at The Preserve, Mihailides subjected her to repeated sexual advances including attempts to kiss her on the mouth, requests for sexual favors, inappropriate touching, ogling with suggestive overtones, and verbal and physical harassment of a sexual nature, which were unwelcome and offensive to McDaniel,” said the lawsuit.

“On May 31, 2021, Mihailides told multiple guests at The Preserve that McDaniel was his ‘mistress,’ ‘future ex-wife,’ and ‘girlfriend.’  Also, Mihailides would not stop hanging on McDaniel’s body and tried to kiss her on the mouth multiple times.  On June 7, 2021, when McDaniel texted Mihailides to thank him for something, he responded: ‘Do kisses come after that?’” according to the suit.

 

Multiple Examples of Harassment and Sexual Comments

The lawsuit gives numerous examples of alleged incidents of sexual harassment, “On August 1, 2021, when McDaniel was unable to travel to The Preserve for the Fourth of July holiday due to illness, Mihailides told her: ‘I’m glad you didn’t die from your asthma attack. I would still have sex with you as long as your body wasn’t cold yet’ or words to that effect. On August 2, 2021, Mihailides told McDaniel that she made him mad because she wouldn’t kiss him or tell him that she loved him."

Mihailides also called McDaniel a “prude.”

 

Ocean House Partnership

In 2020, Mihailides and The Ocean House in Watch Hill had announced a partnership.

The press release stated the two companies entered into an “agreement allows the award-winning hotel brand to expand into the sporting club hospitality and management space. “

"We are excited to broaden our luxury lifestyle footprint in Rhode Island with an ideal opportunity to join forces with a multi-faceted, exclusive sporting club estate," said Daniel A. Hostettler, President and Group Managing Director of Ocean House Management. "This collaboration will afford our Rhode Island hotel guests the opportunity to experience a variety of world-class activities, while we deliver OHM's elevated level of personalized service to The Preserve guests and members, set against a stunning natural backdrop," added Hostettler.

"The Preserve is a distinguished sporting club and residential development that continues to evolve, and we believe that our association with Ocean House Management will take us to an even higher level of experience for our members and an entirely new audience of outdoor enthusiasts," said Mihailides.

But the partnership between the two has now ended. 

The Ocean House Collection's Marketing Director, Brian Honan, confirmed with GoLocal on Wednesday that The Preserve is "no longer part of the Ocean House Collection."

"We do still have a reciprocal agreement with them," he noted, saying that guests of Ocean House and Preserve could have access to each other's amenities. 

According to the lawsuit, top officials at The Ocean House were either witnesses to, or informed of the harassment of McDaniel by Mihailides.

“On August 6, 2021, while in the presence of Dant Hirsch, President and Managing Director of Ocean House, and Robert Button (“Button”), a self-employed videographer, Mihailides talked about McDaniel’s body in a sexualized manner, describing what he wanted to do to her.  Later, Button asked McDaniel if Mihailides was always so “creepy” to her and asked her how she was able to put up with it,” according to the suit.

 

 

Talk About Her Breasts, Tried to Touch Her Buttocks

McDaniels, in the lawsuit, cites example after example of specific incidents of harassment.

“August 10, 2021, Mihailides told McDaniel that her lips were 'so juicy,' and he can 'only imagine what they can do.' Later, McDaniel was told by another Preserve employee named 'Lucas' that Mr. Mihailides insinuated to others that he was having sex with McDaniel,” according to the lawsuit.

“Mihailides often disclosed to McDaniel that he was having multiple, extra-marital affairs, which she found to be unwelcome and offensive. On August 13, 2021, Mihailides attempted to confide in McDaniel about a fight he had with his mistress, but McDaniel told him it was not something she wanted to discuss and that it was inappropriate and made her feel uncomfortable,” according to the lawsuit.

Further, the suit claims, “On or about August 20, 2021, during the filming of a photo shoot, Mihailides attempted to touch McDaniel’s buttocks. Mihailides also bragged about receiving oral sex from a Preserve employee who worked at the front desk, claiming ‘she loves to get on her knees’ and ‘she gives the best blowjobs.’”

 

 

"Future Ex-Wife"

“In or about late August 2021, while McDaniel was working on a photo shoot in the Spa with a young woman named ‘Lindsey,’ who worked at The Preserve clubhouse, Mihailides entered with an unknown man and began to make sexual comments to McDaniel and Lindsey. Mihailides told this unknown man that McDaniel and Lindsey were his ‘future ex-wives; at which time Mihailides attempted to grab and kiss the two women. McDaniel pushed away Mihailides, but he still continued to hang all over Lindsey,” claims the lawsuit.

The number of alleged incidents increased.

“On September 14, 2021, Mihailides told McDaniel that he loved her and tried to kiss her on the mouth.  On September 15, 2021, Mihailides showed McDaniel a room in the Hilltop Lodge where he claimed he brought his mistresses for sexual encounters, referring to it as his ‘stabbin’ cabin,’ which McDaniel perceived to be a sexual reference. On September 25, 2021, McDaniel was forced to sit through an unnecessary meeting, which happened regularly, where Mihailides was verbally abusive to her,” McDaniel alleges in the suit.

 

 

McDaniels Alleges She Is Not the Only Victim of Sexual Harassment

 

According to McDaniel’s lawsuit, she is not the only woman at The Preserve that Mihailides subjected to a hostile work environment based on sex. 

“Mihailides made unwelcome, offensive, sexual comments to a former Preserve employee named Alexandra Beahm ('Beahm').  Mihailides also touched Beahm in a sexual manner that were unwelcome and offensive. During Beahm’s employment, Mihailides approached her in the workplace on numerous occasions and tickled her which she found to be unwelcome and offensive,” stated the suit.

“On one occasion, Mihailides got on his knees so he could reach underneath Beahm’s desk so he could tickle her feet. Mihailides told Beahm to lower her COVID mask in the presence of others so she could show her ‘pretty face.’ On another occasion, Mihailides made a joke about the size of his penis while he was in the presence of Beahm and a client,” claims the suit.

 

 

Ocean House Notified of Claims of Harassment

“Eventually, Beahm complained about Mihailides’ improper conduct to Daniel Hostettler ('Hostettler'), President of Ocean House Management ('OHM'), the entity which managed many functions for The Preserve. Unfortunately, after Beahm complained about Mihailides, his sexually-harassing conduct did not stop.  Shortly after Beahm’s complaint to Hostettler, Mihailides approached her in the workplace and touched her feet,” continued the suit.

“Mihailides also regularly made inappropriate comments about the way Beahm dressed. On one occasion, while Beahm was conducting a property tour with a media client, Mihailides pulled over in his truck and said: ‘Hey, sexy.’  A few months after Beahm complained about Mihailides, Hostettler mentioned the complaint to her and stated that he assumed Mihailides’ improper conduct had stopped because he had not heard anything further from Beahm,” according to the claims.

“However, Beahm explained to Hostettler that Mihailides continued to act inappropriately towards her. Beahm complained a second time about Mihailides, this time to Ann Reynolds (“Reynolds”), OHM’s Director of Human Resources.  Reynolds informed Beahm that there was no documentation of her first complaint and that she would look into the matter and get back to Beahm.  Shortly after Beahm’s second complaint about Mihailides, Hostetler informed her Mihailides had been spoken to by Hostetler and the OHM legal team about her complaints.  A day or two later, Beahm was told that she was permitted to return to the property with the understanding that she had to turn in her keys to avoid ever being alone in the building with Mihailides and that she was required to work six days a week instead of five,” according to the lawsuit.

Further, “When Beahm declined to accept this new condition of her employment, she was offered several alternative positions, but Beahm considered them to be demotions, so she declined them.  Beahm was also told that these alternate positions would better suit her needs as a new mother.  Upon information and belief, The Preserve and Mihailides took no meaningful action to stop or prevent further harassment from Mihailides.”

The suit also states, “Beahn was constructively discharged shortly thereafter as it became clear to her that Defendants were unwilling to take any action against Mihailides to stop or prevent further harassment by him, so she resigned her employment. During the time McDaniel worked at the Preserve, there was no Human Resources Department there and no procedures in place for reporting discrimination in the workplace.  In fact, Mihailides would often joke: “I am the HR Department!” 

“Mihailides also joked: “You know what you get if you complain to HR? You get fired!” claims the lawsuit.

The suit is now pending in federal district court in Providence -- the counts range from civil rights violations to sexual harassment to wage fraud.

Neither Mihailides nor his attorney Nicole Benjamin responded to request for comment at time of publication.