Bar owner tried silencing workers he’s accused of sexually harassing in CO, feds say
The owner of a Colorado bar and dance hall tried silencing former employees who accused him of sexual harassment and raping one worker who was “too intoxicated to consent” by filing a defamation lawsuit, according to federal officials.
Starlite Station in Greeley and its owner sued the group after they filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and shared social media posts in which they spoke out against his unwelcome sexual behavior, including the alleged sexual assault that happened in his office at the western-themed establishment, according to the federal agency. Greeley is about a 65-mile drive north from Denver.
The legal action was “retaliatory” and led to a settlement that banned former employees of the now-closed bar from cooperating with the EEOC, making it illegal, the federal agency argued in a lawsuit it then filed against the owner, his mother, a co-owner of Starlite, and the bar’s operator, ‘Murica LLC.
Now, ‘Murica LLC, the owner and his mother will pay $100,000 to settle the lawsuit’s claims of sexual harassment and retaliation, the EEOC said in a June 23 news release.
The owner also must write apology letters to his former employees as part of relief required by a five-year consent decree that resolves the case, according to officials.
Attorneys representing the owners and bar operator did not immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment June 25.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Starlite’s owner established a “sexually hostile work environment” when he was hiring women between August through October 2018, before its official opening in November 2018.
He was heard making “offensive, sex-based, and discriminatory comments about female job applicants,” including saying some “were ‘too ugly’ to be hired,” EEOC attorneys wrote in a complaint.
After hiring employees, he regularly touched women who worked for him without their consent, sought sexual relationships with them and pressured his female employees to allow him to sleep at their houses, according to the agency.
He also asked male employees inappropriate questions about sex, the EEOC said.
According to the lawsuit, in January 2019, he had sex with an intoxicated female employee in his office in an incident that employees objected to and “reasonably” characterized as “rape or sexual assault.”
“(He) knew or should have known that (she) was too intoxicated to consent to sexual intercourse,” the filing says.
In addition to retaliating with a defamation lawsuit, the owner fired and threatened discipline against employees who objected to his unwanted sexual comments and behavior, according to the EEOC.
The ongoing sexual harassment and retaliation went on until the bar closed in October 2021, the lawsuit says.
The owner and his mother were individually named in the EEOC’s lawsuit because, according to the agency, they misused Starlite’s corporate funds to benefit themselves.
They used the money for a home mortgage, a personal loan and their credit cards, the agency said.
Mary Jo O’Neill, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s district office in Phoenix, Arizona, said in a statement that “this case demonstrates why owners should not think that they can escape liability simply by closing a business and filing retaliatory defamation lawsuits in an attempt to silence victims.”
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Bar owner tried silencing workers he’s accused of sexually harassing in CO, feds say."
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