A pair of secondhand skis in need of a wax are at the center of a lawsuit filed against Mt. Bachelor and four of the resort’s employees last week.

The suit was filed by Melissa Gottlieb of Bend, alleging she and her son were mistreated and unlawfully detained by Mt. Bachelor employees who accused her son of theft. The suit seeks up to $766,000 in economic, noneconomic and punitive damages for alleged negligence, false arrest, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional damages.

At the core of the case is a pair of skis bought by Gottlieb’s son, identified in court documents only as A.G., in January 2016.

The skis had previously been part of Mt. Bachelor’s rental collection and were sold to A.G. at Gear Peddler, a secondhand sporting goods shop in Bend.

On Dec. 30, 2016, A.G. took the skis to the Mt. Bachelor rental shop for a waxing, where shop employees seized the skis and accused A.G. of stealing them, according to the lawsuit.

Security guards employed by Mt. Bachelor arrived and directed A.G. not to leave until police arrived, according to the suit.

A.G. called his mother, and Gottlieb drove to the mountain to assist her son. According to the suit, Mt. Bachelor employees refused to check a bar code on the edge of the skis that could have confirmed they were no longer part of the resort’s rental inventory. Gottlieb contacted Gear Peddler and the store took a photo of their records documenting the sale of the skis from Mt. Bachelor to Gear Peddler, but Mt. Bachelor employees refused to view the picture or speak to Gear Peddler employees on the phone, according to the suit.

Sheriff’s deputies eventually arrived and determined that the skis were not stolen, according to the suit.

Mt. Bachelor has not yet filed a response to the allegations raised by Gottlieb, and no court date has been scheduled.

— Reporter: 541-383-0387, shammers@bendbulletin.com