CEO of Sonoma County winery denies phone call at center of sister's sexual abuse lawsuit against him

A lawsuit accusing the co-founder and CEO of Bricoleur Vineyards in Windsor of sexually abusing his sister decades ago is based in part on a phone call last year in which his sister said he admitted his guilt, according to new court documents.

But in their own legal statements, winemaker Mark Hanson and his lawyers remember the conversation quite differently.

The controversial call, which took place in November, was not recorded.

In a document filed Tuesday, the sister's testimony includes that Hanson listened as his sister described “numerous instances of sexual harassment by him in detail.” He responded by saying, “I did all of those things and I'm sorry,” both the sister and one of her attorneys, Micha Star Liberty, who was also on the phone, say, according to court documents.

However, Hanson claims that his sister Hilary McKean did not elaborate on her allegations of violence and abuse in her childhood during the conversation – and says he did not admit anything.

In a court document this summer, Hanson wrote: “I listened to Hilary briefly describe memories from her childhood that she said caused her stress and trauma.”

But McKean “did not mention the specific allegations that have since been made in this lawsuit, including the alleged six-year sexual abuse,” he wrote. And when he tried to respond to his sister, Liberty ended the conversation, he also explained.

Hanson's lawyers also argue that the call was a trap.

He and his lawyer accuse Liberty of concealing the fact that she was a lawyer when preparing and making the phone call. They have asked the San Francisco Superior Court judge presiding over the case to disqualify Liberty from participating in the trial.

“Everyone has the right to legal counsel and representation, and equally important, lawyers must make it clear that they are representing a client … so that the other person has the opportunity to have counsel as well,” Sam Singer, a spokesman for Hanson, said Wednesday. “This was an example of misconduct and deception by Ms. Liberty.”

Liberty and her co-counsel Jennifer Fiore deny these allegations and say it is clear that Liberty is a lawyer. They also say Hanson and his legal team are trying to distract from the allegations.

In an interview with The Press Democrat on Wednesday, Fiore called the motion to disqualify Liberty “an intimidation tactic.”

“It is an obvious attempt to gain a tactical advantage by depriving (McKean) of her choice of counsel,” Fiore said. Hanson is “punishing (McKean) for coming forward to shed light on what happened.”

A judge in San Francisco is scheduled to hear arguments on the motion to disqualify on October 1.

The phone call, a follow-up call on Dec. 27 and a handful of text messages appear to be key elements of McKean's case against Hanson, a Silicon Valley executive and investor who founded Bricoleur in 2017 with his wife and daughter.

McKean filed her civil suit in March, seeking compensation for lifelong psychological and physical damage she says resulted from her brother's childhood abuse. Hanson's name was initially sealed in that suit, but the allegations became public in May when the San Francisco Chronicle reported on the case after the secrecy was lifted.

Hanson denied the abuse allegations and accused his sister of trying to extort “significant sums” from him. He also said his sister was influenced by a foray into unconventional spiritual therapies and fabricated the allegations.

McKean claims Hanson began sexually abusing her when she was eight and the family moved into a house in San Rafael where her bedroom and that of her brother were separate from her parents and younger sister. She accuses Hanson of coming into her room at night to abuse her over the next six years – until Hanson's teenage years.

According to the lawsuit, McKean repressed memories of the assaults, but they left lasting psychological and physical scars, including severe anxiety, depression, nightmares, and “tissue, muscle and organ damage and bruising.”

McKean went on to have a successful career in business and became an executive at a global public relations firm. Memories of the assault surfaced in 2022, her lawsuit says.

McKean is bringing the case under laws that allow victims of sexual assault to take legal action within five years of the moment they realize they have been harmed. Hanson describes the memories as having surfaced “conveniently” to “take advantage of the state's statute of limitations.”

In a statement filed this week, McKean says she instructed Liberty in August 2023 to explore her “legal options” regarding the years of abuse, but does not say she originally planned to sue him. She and her lawyers claim a civil suit for damages was not her original intention.