Green Nonprofit Loses Lawsuit Against Former Employee Who Claims It Covered Up Sex Abuse
Erinn Broadus on April 4, 2023
Minnesota environmental group Honor the Earth, founded by Winona LaDuke, will have to pay former employee Margaret Campbell $750,000 after Campbell was fired shortly after raising awareness about the alleged sexual assault of minors at the hands of then-employee Michael Dahl, according to court documents.
The court ruled in favor of Campbell on March 30 for one count of sexual harassment and one count of unpaid leave reprisal and subsequent career harm reprisal totaling $750,000 to be paid to Campbell, court documents show. Campbell claims that she was fired after reporting the sexual harassment against her and several Native American boys at the hands of co-worker Dahl.
When Campbell confronted LaDuke about allegations that Dahl had engaged in sexual relations with a 15-year-old boy, LaDuke fired Campbell despite admitting in private Facebook messages that he “probably did have sex” with the child, the Washington Free Beacon reported. She went on to say Dahl was “not a predator or pedophile as he’s raised a lot of young men.”
In addition to firing Campbell, LaDuke destroyed email evidence that could have been used in Campbell’s favor, the court found.
“Honor the Earth was required to preserve these emails as evidence, but instead, it intentionally destroyed them in an effort to deprive Margaret Campbell of relevant evidence. You must infer from this fact that the contents of the destroyed emails would have been helpful to Plaintiff Margaret Campbell’s claims and harmful to Defendant Honor the Earth’s defenses,” reads the court document.
“The lawsuit stems from accusations of sexual harassment by another contracted employee, who was dismissed from the organization in 2015,” LaDuke said in a statement released on April 1.
“As we move forward from the court’s decision, we remain committed to resisting all forms of sexual harassment, violence and assault. Honor the Earth is an organization predominantly led by Indigenous women and we will continue our organizational mission to raise awareness and offer support to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Indigenous communities,” she continued.
Honor the Earth is currently seeking over $900,000 from taxpayers to fund a museum project, according to a recently released release from Republican Minnesota state Rep. Josh Heintzeman.
“Under no circumstances should an organization like Honor the Earth be entitled to taxpayer funds for any reason. As legislators, we have an obligation to be good stewards of your tax dollars,” Heintzeman said.
Honor the Earth directed Daily Caller News Foundation to LaDuke’s statement when reached for comment.
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