Spray Tan Wasn’t Part of the Deal

AUBURN, Calif. (CN) - Two women say they were forced to give their boss a spray tan while he was "clad only in tight-fitting underwear," and that the owner of the company repeatedly demanded that they wear bikinis to work. They sued Thomas Melton and The Melton Group, financial services, for sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

The women say the human resources director, Melton's wife, Dianne Melton, responded to their complaints of "pervasive sexual harassment" by saying that as a "small family business" the company could "get away with whatever it wanted," and was not bound by the same laws as big corporations.

Vanessa Adams and Shaleen Grimes also sued their direct supervisor, Chris Green, in Placer County Superior Court.

The women say that Green, fiancé of the Meltons' daughter, looked up Adams' address in personnel records and moved in nearby so they could "hang out," that he "frequently viewed pornography on his work computer" while the plaintiffs worked nearby, and "rubbed himself against Adams' legs" while in her car.

Melton pestered the women to wear bikinis to work and to visit him in other places, in their bikinis, the women say.

They say they were made to work "in excess of 12 hours per day" without overtime pay, in fact, without any pay at all for the overtime, which Mrs. Melton called "fun time."

The 19 allegations include 14 Labor Code violations.

The plaintiffs add that Thomas Melton said he wanted "only to work with beautiful women," and Dianne Melton instructed Adams to "discard any resumes from male applicants."

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit