The U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against
Crystal Ridge Ski Area in Franklin after the agency says the business fired an employee for his religious social media posts, court records show.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleges Crystal Ridge has violated the Civil Rights Act.
Crystal Ridge is owned by
Rick and
Mike Schmitz, who also own Little Switzerland Ski Area in Slinger and Nordic Mountain ski resort in Waushara County. Crystal Ridge is no longer affiliated with ROC Ventures, which redeveloped the area around the ski hill into The Rock Sports Complex.
In June 2023, a seasonal lift operator for Crystal Ridge posted religious messages to his personal social media accounts including quotes from scripture and Bible verses. The posts did not identify the person as an employee of Crystal Ridge, according to the EEOC's lawsuit.
The company’s operations manager later met with the employee and allegedly told him that the social media posts were “discriminatory to gay people,” the lawsuit states.
A few days later, the employee posted another Bible verse on a personal social media account, the lawsuit states.
Crystal Ridge is then accused by the EEOC of firing the employee because of the second social media post.
"The effect of the practices complained of above has been to deprive the aggrieved individual of equal employment opportunities and otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee because of his religion," reads the lawsuit.
The EEOC says it sent a letter to Crystal Ridge in February informing the business there was reasonable cause to believe it had broken the law by firing the unnamed employee.
Crystal Ridge was invited to attend an informal conciliation session aimed at resolving the allegations of racial discrimination. However, the EEOC say it was “unable to secure” an acceptable conciliation agreement.
The unidentified employee is seeking back pay, in an amount to be determined at trial, and compensation for any past or future losses.
The lawsuit also seeks an order requiring Crystal Ridge to update its policies and practices to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees regardless of religion.
Crystal Ridge ownership said Wednesday afternoon they had only just become aware of the EEOC's lawsuit, but they believe the allegations of religious discrimination to be unfounded.
"First, we want to make clear that we, as an employer and member of the community, treat all of our employees and customers equally and with respect, regardless of who they are and what they believe," said the company in a statement. "We also expect all of our employees to similarly respect each other and the customers that we are here to serve. Second, we want to make clear that the internal employment decision that apparently led to the EEOC’s lawsuit was not made on the basis of the employee’s religious beliefs. Rather, it was a business decision based on performance issues and policy violations. We have no further comment at this time."
