A Green Valley woman is suing her former employers, citing adverse treatment and retaliation by a manager after his arrest on charges related to his relationship with the woman's 16-year-old son.
Nicole Sheppard, who until last fall was a bartender at the Green Valley Lanes bowling center's Wet Spot Bar & Grill, said that between November 2008 and May 2009, General Manager William "Billy" O'Rourke criticized her for poor work performance, took job responsibilities from her and suspended her for nine weeks for gossiping about co-workers, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Pima County Superior Court.
The suit also claims Green Valley Lanes owners Dale Ann and Ramesh Narasimhan were negligent in their hiring and oversight of O'Rourke, Dale Ann Narasimhan's brother.
"It's ridiculous that they would put in a guy like this as manager, and even worse that they'd let him continue after what he did," said Brad Roach, Sheppard's attorney. "If the owners were just somebody who hired this guy off the street, that would maybe be different, but this was her brother. She should have known better about her brother.
People are also reading…
O'Rourke, 36, is awaiting trial on charges including public sexual indecency involving a minor, furnishing obscene material to a minor and sexual exploitation of a child, according to court records.
His attorney, Richard Gierloff, declined to comment.
O'Rourke was arrested Nov. 7, 2008, after allegedly breaking into Sheppard's home to confront her son, with whom Sheppard claims O'Rourke had developed an inappropriate relationship since she began working for O'Rourke at Green Valley Lanes in late 2006, according to the suit.
A search of O'Rourke's Sahuarita home after his arrest found child pornography on a computer, according to the suit.
The lawsuit claims O'Rourke befriended Sheppard's son - who is referred to as "Miguel Doe" in the complaint - by picking the boy up from school, taking him bowling and to hockey games, buying him gifts and having him spend the night at O'Rourke's home. O'Rourke showed the boy pornographic movies, and on at least 12 occasions encouraged the boy to masturbate with him while watching the movies, the suit claims.
The suit also alleges O'Rourke used his ability to view Green Valley Lanes' video cameras from his home as a method to "groom Doe for sexual activity."
Sheppard stopped working at the Wet Spot, Roach said, after no longer being able to take O'Rourke's retaliation.
The retaliation began shortly after O'Rourke was arrested, starting with Sheppard being stripped of her liquor-ordering and employee-scheduling duties, the suit claims. Other retaliation included alleging Sheppard was sabotaging the business and spreading false rumors, and that she was giving away free games of pool and didn't inform O'Rourke the pool table's coin box wasn't working, according to the suit.
Attempts by the Star to reach Dale Ann or Ramesh Narasimhan were unsuccessful. A person who answered the phone at Green Valley Lanes on Thursday said neither owner was there, and no one else was able to comment.
Contact reporter Brian J. Pedersen at bjp@azstarnet.com or call 573-4224.
