In this 2017 file photo, Hydro Flask Marketing Director Yiorgos Makris gives a tour of the Hydro Flask headquarters in Bend. 

A former social media coordinator for Hydro Flask is suing the Bend-based bottle-maker, alleging her boss harassed her over a 3-year period, while upper management supported him.

Kelli Delperdang was hired as a social media coordinator in August 2016, and terminated by the company in November 2020.

She alleges in a lawsuit, filed Monday in Deschutes County Circuit Court, that she was wrongfully terminated after her manager subjected her to sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, gender discrimination and retaliation.

Delperdang, 32, is seeking $241,000 in damages.

Hydro Flask Marketing Director Yiorgos Makris is named as a party in the lawsuit. A company representative said this week that Makris was still with the company. He did not return phone calls or an email.

Hydro Flask hired Makris in 2017 as director of marketing. He’d previously worked as a marketing supervisor for Icebreaker, Columbia and Salomon.

Delperdang said Makris routinely bullied her in public, around the office and in meetings, according to the lawsuit. She states she received several years worth of positive performance reviews and was on track to receive a promotion until Makris, and Operational Director Lucas Alberg, subjected her to negative performance reviews in retaliation for her filing a complaint against Makris with human resources.

The suit alleges several female employees resigned from the company due to Makris’ alleged conduct.

“(W)orking conditions due to the discrimination and retaliation were so intolerable that a reasonable person in her circumstances would have resigned,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that in 2018 and 2020, three male Hydro Flask employees filed complaints with human resources officials stating they witnessed Makris harass Delperdang and other female employees.

The first instance described in the lawsuit occurred in December 2017 on a work trip to Hawaii. She states Makris interrupted a conversation among employees to make a lewd comment regarding her necklace. “This comment made (Delperdang) feel very uncomfortable and powerless,” the lawsuit states.

She states that after Makris acted hostile toward her during a meeting, she filed a complaint with human resources, according to the lawsuit. She was told by the representative that her complaint would be investigated. She alleges it was never followed up.

About one month after she filed her complaint, Makris “accosted and yelled” at her in the middle of the marketing department. The yelling went on for several minutes and when she attempted to speak, Makris “interrupted her, raised his voice, and continued to yell at her,” the lawsuit states.

“This incident occurred in front of other employees in the Marketing Department. When Mr. Makris left, several employees approached (Delperdang) and asked if she was okay. (She) was shocked and felt humiliated and unsafe,” the lawsuit states.

In May 2020, Hydro Flask employee Mitch Loge filed a complaint with human resources officials alleging retaliation. In his report, Loge stated he witnessed Makris and Alberg treat Delperdang unfairly.

“Mr. Loge informed HR that it was well known within the Marketing Department that Mr. Makris consistently harassed and treated Plaintiff unfairly,” the lawsuit states.

Delperdang states she was subject to unfair scrutiny and receiving “needs improvement” in her performance reviews despite hitting “every” performance metric.

In 2020, she was placed on a performance improvement plan twice. She told the human resources director she was being asked to do the jobs of three employees and was being set up to fail. She was terminated Nov. 3, 2020.

Founded around 2008 by Travis Rosbach and Cindy Morse, Hydro Flask’s sales skyrocketed around 2016, the same year it was sold to global consumer goods company Helen of Troy.

Editor’s note: This article has been corrected. The original version misstated the nature of Mitch Loge’s complaint. The Bulletin regrets the error.