KANSAS CITY (AP) — A former 17-year-old female Boy Scout member contends in a lawsuit against a Kansas City-area chapter that she faced sexual harassment and discrimination before she was fired from a camp last summer.
The plaintiff and her mother, who are not identified, claim in the lawsuit against the Heart of America Council that she saw Boy Scout members barge in on women while they changed clothes at a camp and that staff also attended drunken parties, KCUR reported.
The lawsuit alleges the girl was punished for actions male Scouts got away while she was a staff member at H. Roe Bartle Scout Camp in Osceola, Missouri, last summer. She said she was sent home from camp after only 12 days for leaving camp with a male, despite having her mother’s permission to do so.
The Heart of America Council also routinely violated its policy requiring an adult to be present when another adult has a conversation with someone younger than 18, the lawsuit claims.
Brick Huffman, Scout Executive for the Heart of America Council, said in a statement Friday that the organization cannot comment on the lawsuit, but officials are looking into the matter “and can assure you that the conduct alleged in the complaint runs counter to everything Scouting represents.”
Huffman said Scouting members and staff are expected to treat everyone with respect, and the organization does not allow bullying or harassment. Scouting values diversity and seeks to provide a safe environment for everyone, he said.
“Prejudice, intolerance, discrimination and harassment are unacceptable in our organization,” Huffman said.
The Heart of America Council oversees scouting in 19 counties in eastern Kansas and western Missouri, including Kansas City.
Girls were allowed to join the Boy Scouts in 2017, and the plaintiff said she was one of the first female staff members at the H. Roe Bartle Scout Camp.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for sex discrimination, sexual harassment, breach of contract and retaliation.
The national Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February in response to hundreds of lawsuits by Scouts alleging they were sexually abused.