HALETHORPE, Md. (WJZ) -- A former J.O. Spice employee is suing the company for sexual harassment after she said one of the owners pressured her to have sex with him numerous times over a seven-year period or lose her job.

In the lawsuit, Barbara Fisher said she was subjected to sexual harassment throughout her 18 years with the Halethorpe-based company, including demands from owner Donald Ports that she have sex with him both at work and outside the office.

The lawsuit also accuses Ports and a supervisor, Steve Lewis, among others, of "repeatedly (making) pervasive, inappropriate sex-based comments in the workplace," including making obscene gestures and vulgar remarks.

Fisher, a single mom for much of her time with the company who worked as a small packaging manager, said she felt pressured to stay quiet because she needed the job and felt she had no other choice.

According to the lawsuit, after Fisher was married in 2010, Ports threatened to tell her husband if she didn't continue the affair.

Ports, whose wife Ginger worked in human resources at the company, threatened to deny Fisher's claims if she came forward, the lawsuit said.

Fisher's attorney sent a statement to WJZ, saying:

"As stated in our Complaint, my client intends to prove at trial that J.O. Spice allowed its workplace to be permeated with inappropriate sex-based conduct. She also intends to prove that the owner demanded that my client have sex with him on a regular basis for an extended time period. This was not a love affair. She will prove it was coerced and it was unlawful. The evidence will show that my client was a single mother at the time and needed the job. She felt that she had no choice but to meet the owner's demands or be terminated.

My client looks forward to proving her claims through the litigation process, including upcoming civil discovery and trial, during which her allegations will be fully vetted."

In a statement, the company rejected Fisher's claims, saying:

"J.O. Spice, a third-generation, family-owned business located in Halethorpe, its president, Donald Ports, and its vice president of marketing and sales, Ginger Ports, reject the false allegations contained in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland by ex-employee Barbara Fisher. J.O. Spice and the Ports family look forward to disproving these allegations and being vindicated in federal court. In the meantime, Don, Ginger, and the entire J.O. Spice family will continue their 74-year tradition of exceptional service to neighbors and friends.

Out of respect for the judicial process, J.O. Spice and the Ports Family will have no further comment at this time."