More than a year after five women announced they were suing Monster Energy, alleging a rampant culture of sexual harassment and retaliation within the company, another executive named in one of the complaints has parted ways with the company.
Brent Hamilton, the former head of music marketing for Monster, was “ousted” from the company earlier this year, according to a report this month by the Huffington Post. Hamilton and the energy drink company are currently co-defendants in a criminal lawsuit filed by his former girlfriend Sara Rabuse — a makeup artist who was contracted by Monster in 2016 — who alleges that Hamilton drunkenly assaulted her in a hotel room during a work trip to the 2016 Country Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn.
According to HuffPost, Hamilton allegedly left the company after another female co-worker accused him of sending her sexually explicit text messages.
A spokesperson for Monster confirmed to BevNET that Hamilton was no longer with the company but declined to comment further.
Hamilton is at least the second known executive named in lawsuits to leave the company since Rabuse’s case and four others were made public in January 2018. Former VP John Kenneally resigned after HuffPost published explicit and abusive text messages he allegedly sent to former Monster senior field marketing manager Page Zeringue, whom he had dated. Zeringue is also suing the company, claiming that she was wrongfully terminated and that Monster helped to enable Kenneally’s abuse.
Speaking to BevNET today, Rabuse said she is frustrated with how Monster has handled her case. She added that she has struggled to maintain her makeup business since the assault and had to shut down her Los Angeles store as a result.
“It isn’t justice for me,” Rabuse told BevNET. “I don’t believe he got fired for what he did to me. It’s all very unfortunate and to me it’s all a big upsetting and sad situation. It shouldn’t have reached this level.”
According to Rabuse, the criminal trial against Hamilton had been scheduled for May but was pushed back. The new trial date will be announced during a hearing on June 6 in Nashville.
Zeringue told BevNET her case is likely to be settled during arbitration hearings next month in New Orleans. She said Kenneally is not required to be present during the closed door proceedings.
“Monster protects these executives,” Zeringue said. “They have the money, they have the power, they have the resources. And we’re just regular people trying to hold them accountable and protect ourselves.”
Since last year, two other former Monster employees — Jamie Lee Hogan and Mary Frances Pulizzi — have dropped their lawsuits. Pulizzi claimed the company created a hostile work environment after she told HR during an internal investigation that Kenneally had repeatedly made sexist remarks towards female employees.
She told BevNET she dropped her case last fall but remains confident she would have won and that she had the necessary documentation to prove her allegations.
She said personal and financial constraints forced her to withdraw the suit. She noted that watching the difficulties Zeringue and the other women suing the company faced in pursuing their lawsuits contributed to her wanting to “move on.” However, Pulizzi said she has been stigmatized since going public with her case last year and has been unable to find employment.
Hogan, a former regional manager for the company, said she faced harassment and discrimination from a male manager. She dropped her case earlier this year and is now the general manager of an improv comedy club. She told BevNET she dropped her suit for personal reasons but is “still involved and still an advocate” for women facing workplace harassment and is glad she went public with her story.
“It was so much negative energy and emotion and something I did not want to deal with anymore,” Hogan said. “I’m still an advocate for the fight. I’m still willing to do what I can for the cause. I still feel I was wronged but it was a lot of dwelling in the past that I wasn’t prepared to do.”
Another former employee, Karen Simmons, is proceeding with a lawsuit against the company, claiming sexual harassment by one of her managers.
Sarah Lozano, a former human resources generalist for Monster who filed three lawsuits against the company, published a book detailing her experiences with Monster. Titled Taming the Beast: Human Resources vs. Human Resources, the book was released on Amazon in March. Lozano has since taken up advocacy for employee rights. Lozano won her first suit against the company — a labor wage wage dispute — but lost a civil suit for sexual harassment and hostile work environment under arbitration where it was determined her claims are covered under California’s worker compensation insurance. She also has a pending worker’s compensation case with the next court date scheduled for June 10.
“I refuse to remain silent,” Lozano told BevNET. “I have seen employees lose everything at the mercy of the billionaire bully Monster Energy. Monster Energy’s corruption, abuse of power, and illegal actions need to end…. The company still operates [with] a ‘boy’s club locker room’ culture. Monster has a long way to go to reach the minimum fair employment standards which are required by law. An employee should not have to fight for their right to a fair and equal workplace.”