Car seller accuses former workers of libel

Kellogg-based Dave Smith Motors is suing three former employees – including two car saleswomen who filed sexual harassment claims against the dealership – for defamation and libel.

Defendant Sheryl L. Bjornson filed a sexual harassment suit against the company in June 2004. Carissa Heustis, also named in the libel and defamation suit, sued the dealership for sexual harassment in December.

Both women specifically named Joe Orsi, manager of the company’s Frontier Leasing & Sales in Coeur d’Alene, as the alleged perpetrator of sexual harassment. He is a plaintiff in the libel and defamation suit, along with owner Ken Smith.

Smith and Orsi declined comment. Marc Lyons, an attorney representing Bjornson and Heustis, also declined comment. The third defendant in the libel suit, Gary Leat, couldn’t be reached for comment.

The libel suit claims that Bjornson and Heustis, who were no longer working for the company, contacted an unnamed employee at work and asked the employee to meet them at the Iron Horse Bar. The suit says Bjornson asked the employee to join the harassment claim and that Bjornson made false statements about Smith and the company being involved in criminal activity.

Leat was a sales and team leader at Frontier. The libel suit alleges he took names and phone numbers of current and past employees to provide to Bjornson and Heustis.

Bjornson alleged in her sexual harassment suit that Orsi made “sexually derogatory, disparaging and contemptuous remarks” about her and told her she had to wear her hair a certain way. She said she was hired in May 2001 and worked for the company until her termination in January 2004.

In the libel suit, Dave Smith Motors says Bjornson was fired after receiving a ticket for driving under the influence. Bjornson also stated in court records that she was fired because of the DUI charge and that Dave Smith Motors had refused to pay her unemployment.

Heustis’ suit alleges Orsi made sexual advances toward her in 2004 and then retaliated after she spurned him.

Both women’s suits say they went to management with their concerns and that no action was taken.

Dave Smith Motors is the world’s largest Dodge dealer and employs about 350 people.