The owner of a former cannabis lab in Eugene who was at the center of a firestorm over her ties to local white nationalists was sued in Lane County Circuit Court this week by a dozen former employees who allege she didn't pay them for hours worked.

Bethany Sherman, 36, whose address in public records is in Eugene, operated OG Analytical until late last year when she was identified by local activists as an associate of white nationalists.

At the time, Sherman told The Oregonian/OregonLive she was not a neo-Nazi but was proud of being white. Her business closed almost immediately after the revelations.

In their lawsuit, her former employees allege they learned of her white nationalist ties from reading her statements in The Oregonian. They claim Sherman called a meeting of employees after the article published and "immediately berated and blamed" them for failing to defend her and announced plans to sell the business.

The employees also accuse Sherman of blocking access to their 401(k) accounts, which are valued at a total of $108,000. They say she owes them a total of $10,891 in wages. They are also seeking "penalty wages" in the amount of $45,000, the equivalent of 30 days of work.

Sherman on Friday did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries has a record of one case in its wage and hour division related to OG Analytical. Spokeswoman Christine Lewis said Ryann Haworth filed the complaint last year. The agency has since closed the case without making a determination and sent a "warning letter" to the company about wage and hour laws.

Last year, Eugene Antifa alleged Sherman had supplied food and support for neo-Nazi gatherings and operated a now-defunct Twitter account under the handle @14th_word. The bio said the account belonged to a "#nationalist mommy. Our children deserve to be raised in a wholesome environment free of oppression against whites."

The Anti-Defamation League says "14 words" is a white supremacist slogan, meaning, "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

Though quickly shunned by Oregon's cannabis industry, Sherman was embraced by two Lane County men viewed by national groups tracking extremists as fixtures of the region's white nationalist movement.

One of the men, Jacob Laskey, spent more than a decade in prison for desecrating Eugene's largest synagogue.

Earlier this month, Laskey, who called Sherman "a hero," was sentenced to more than two years for stabbing an acquaintance.

-- Noelle Crombie

503-276-7184

@noellecrombie