Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic depictions of allegations of sexual battery and harassment.
A former employee at Tucker-based Siggers Hairdressers has sued its owners, John and Carol Siggers, for sexual harassment, sexual assault, and battery for incidents that occurred over the span of two years.
A lawsuit filed in DeKalb Superior Court on Aug. 14 claims that John F. Siggers, 86, “systematically preyed upon and sexually assaulted Stephanie Dhondt, a now 23-year-old cosmetology apprentice who was his employee from approximately March 2023 to May 2025.”
“Mr. Siggers deliberately exploited Ms. Dhondt’s financial vulnerability to coerce her into sexual acts, including digital penetration, forced masturbation, unwanted touching of her breasts and behind, and exposure of his genitals, while threatening her financial security when she resisted his advances,” the lawsuit said.
The complaint said Siggers’ wife, Carol, who is the CFO and secretary of Siggers Holdings, knew of his harassing behavior and “took no corrective action and allowed this predatory conduct to continue unabated.”
According to the suit, Siggers had an apartment in the basement area of the salon, located at 2166 Northlake Pkwy., “which he used to conduct his predatory behavior away from public view.”
Several months into Dhondt’s employment, Siggers allegedly began his “systematic campaign of sexual harassment and assault against Ms. Dhondt.”
The defendant was aware of Dhondt’s financial situation as a minimum wage employee with a child to support, the suit said. He offered her cash while making it clear that she had to “do something in return.”
“Defendant Siggers’ typical pattern involved sitting in his office chair downstairs
holding $100 bills while demanding sexual favors from Ms. Dhondt,” the complaint said. “On at least ten occasions, Defendant Siggers digitally penetrated Ms. Dhondt by putting his hands down her pants without her consent.”
The suit also alleges that Siggers exposed himself to Dhondt several times, harassed her on a “near daily basis” while she was working at the salon, and when she refused him, threatened her “financial security.”
After the the father of Dhondt’s child died in November of 2024, the lawsuit said Siggers increased his pressure on her to perform sexual acts in an attempt to capitalize on her financial distress.
The suit said several employees witnessed Siggers touch Dhondt inappropriately on multiple occasions.
When an employee, who had witnessed Siggers’ behavior on at least eight occasions, attempted to stop the encounters, Siggers allegedly retaliated by cutting the employee’s work hours.
In addition, the suit lists at least three other incidents involving employees and a customer who claimed they were similarly battered by Siggers.
The suit, filed in DeKalb Superior Court on Aug. 14, does not specify an amount for damages, but asks for punitive damages, lost wages and front pay, compensatory damages, “in an amount to be determined by the enlightened conscience of the jury,” and for the plaintiff’s “emotional distress, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, lost wages, and other special damages.”
According to Dhondt’s attorney Rachel Berlin Benjamin of Beal Sutherland Berlin & Brown, Dhondt’s action came after she “reached her breaking point.”
Benjamin said several women had filed reports claiming sexual harassment and battery with the DeKalb County Police department, “with no arrests or action,” thus leading to the civil action.
According to DeKalb County Police incident reports obtained by Rough Draft, four complaints were filed accusing John Siggers of sexual battery during a time period from 2020 to 2024.
All but one of the complaints were heavily redacted, including the victim’s name, address, and the entire narrative portion of the report.
The single narrative that was not redacted was filed by DeKalb Officer JD Blanc regarding a sexual battery complaint that allegedly occurred on Dec. 2, 2023.
Blanc met with the complainant, who said she worked at Siggers Hairdressers from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2, 2023.
The victim stated that she called the business on Dec. 2 to say she couldn’t come to work that day because she didn’t have enough money for gas. The narrative said that Siggers encouraged the complainant to come to work and offered to give her money for gas.
“When [name redacted] arrived at the hairdresser, Mr. Siggers gave [name redacted] $40 for gas…. Mr. Siggers told [name redacted] that if [name redacted] allowed him to touch, he would give [name redacted] more money and make [name redacted] the best hairdresser,” the report said.
Siggers, according to the narrative, started to touch the victim and pushed himself closer to her until someone walked into the salon. He then allegedly gave the victim $500. According to the report, Dec. 2 was the last day of the victim’s employment.
In another redacted report, the victim alleged that Siggers sexually battered her from Jan. 1, 2020 to Nov. 12, 2022.
A search of DeKalb County Jail records show no arrests or charges associated with John F. Siggers during the time period outlined in the incident reports.
Rough Draft Atlanta has contacted Mary Donne Peters of Gorby, Peters & Associates, who is allegedly representing the Siggers in the matter. She has not yet responded to the inquiry.
According to its website, Siggers Hairdressers, which has been in its location since 1980, won Marie Claire Magazine “Best in Color,” Cut & Style, as well being named as Atlanta Magazine’s Top 10 Salons. It was named the Tucker Mayor’s Annual Business Award winner for 2022, honoring “their longevity and service to not only Tucker but the Southeast.”
Siggers, on its social media pages, offers apprentice-based training as an alternative to beauty schools, offering “on-the-job, hands-on” instruction that allows aspiring hairdressers to be paid while learning the business.
