The suit, filed Monday in U. District Court in Richmond, alleges that Ian Kelley, the CEO and a founder of the Chesterfield County-based company, promoted an year-old part-time employee to the position of store manager and used that promotion as leverage to start a sexual relationship with her. The woman claims she was fired after she filed a complaint about the relationship, which she claims also included an apartment secretly paid for by the company.
Williams, a Richmond resident, began working part time for Sugar Shack in when she was 17 years old, then switched to full-time work there after graduating high school the next year, according to the suit. In October , Terry tore his meniscus while on the job. The knee injury limited his ability to walk, but he continued to work after his supervisor assigned him to shop duty at the DPU facility. At various times she worked in the Midlothian, Hanover and Parham Road locations and in mobile operations.
Williams turned 18 in July and planned to leave the area and her Sugar Shack job to attend college in another part of the state, the suit said. Kelley, according to the suit, promised to promote her to be the manager of a store that was planned to be opened in Charlottesville.
The suit said she decided to stay and work for Sugar Shack and waited for the new location to open. Williams alleges that in the summer of , Kelley asked her to perform oral sex on him and implied, according to the suit, that he had given her a significant job advance and that she needed to show him gratitude.
The suit says that in early , Kelley became involved in disputes with other owners of the company and disengaged from the day-to-day operations of the company.
