BEMIDJI — A merger between forestry giants PotlatchDeltic and Rayonier was finalized late last month, with a new name planned this year.
As of Thursday, Feb. 5, the sign at the Bemidji lumber mill remained under PotlatchDeltic branding. The merger was initially announced in October 2025. According to a news release from Rayonier, the combined company will initially retain the Rayonier name, with stock trading under the ticker symbol “RYN” as of Monday.
But three civil lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and racial discrimination in the workplace against PotlatchDeltic Land & Lumber and some of its Bemidji lumber mill employees continue to move through court. The company also lost one of its third-party responsible forestry certifications with the Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC, late last year. The loss came after an independent, company-wide investigation into harassment claims across several sites in the United States, including Bemidji.
It’s unclear what the merger means for the FSC certification moving forward, as Rayonier’s own certifications are in good standing. PotlatchDeltic’s certifications from another wood product certifier, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or SFI, are currently valid.
A spokesperson for Rayonier declined to comment on the court cases in an email Thursday.
“As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on pending litigation or specific personnel disputes,” Jane Wilder wrote.
PotlatchDeltic’s business holdings include millions of acres of forested land in the southern and northwestern United States, a real estate broker network and a few mills producing lumber and strand boards. The mill in Bemidji creates precision studs out of spruce, pine and fir trees. PotlatchDeltic’s once ubiquitous land holdings in Minnesota have been sold off to local governments and conservation groups, including an August 2025 transfer in St. Louis County.
Rayonier also has significant land holdings in the South and Pacific Northwest and a vested interest in real estate. With the merger, more than 4 million acres of timberlands will represent nearly 60% of the company’s portfolio, with wood product manufacturing representing 2%.
“Rayonier operates six sawmills, an industrial-grade plywood mill, residential and commercial real estate developments and a rural land sales program,” states a company overview. “Rayonier is committed to corporate responsibility, third-party forest certification and supporting climate change mitigation through its land-based solutions business.”
A Thursday email from an SFI spokesperson confirmed PotlatchDeltic Land & Lumber is certified for two of SFI’s standards for forest management and fiber sourcing, but he reported its own complaint investigation is suspended while active litigation is underway.
“This helps ensure that due process is respected and that certification bodies are not placed in a position of making determinations on issues that are simultaneously being addressed through the legal system,” Jason Metnick wrote. “If, once litigation is resolved, there are outstanding issues related to conformance with SFI requirements, the complaint process may resume.”
Court cases
Three current and former employees — two women and one man — have filed civil suits since November 2025, claiming a culture of harassment and retaliation exists within the PotlatchDeltic Bemidji Lumber Mill.
KAXE agreed not to identify the plaintiffs, as they said they fear retribution.
“Plaintiff’s resignation was purely a consequence of the ongoing sexual harassment and hostile work environment which defendant Potlatch failed or refused to stop or prevent," one of the women's suits against PotlatchDeltic stated.
“The FSC [Forest Stewardship Council] conducted its own investigation of the sexual harassment and racial discrimination claims occurring at the Bemidji facility and has verified a significant proportion of that information,” the man’s suit stated. “As a consequence of its investigation, the FSC has revoked the stamp and certification of PotlatchDeltic.”
On Tuesday, PotlatchDeltic and all other codefendants in the suits filed answers that deny any allegations of wrongdoing in the three cases.
“Potlatch admits that FSC purports to monitor environmental, social and economic issues in the forestry industry. Potlatch states that it is without knowledge or information to form a belief as to the investigation the FSC took or what its conclusions from the investigation were,” responded PotlatchDeltic in the man’s civil suit.
In legal memos filed in the court cases Thursday, PotlatchDeltic urged the court to dismiss the plaintiffs’ allegations.
“Many of plaintiff’s allegations fail to provide crucial details including who engaged in the alleged conduct, where the alleged conduct occurred and when the alleged conduct occurred,” PotlatchDeltic’s memo stated in the man’s civil suit.
In the women’s civil suits, PotlatchDeltic’s memos argue that Calvin Kurtz is not a Potlatch employer, and was instead the plaintiffs’ coworker. According to the suits, Kurtz was tasked with training the women and is the person who they claim sexually harassed them in and out of the workplace.
“There is a difference in how liability attaches for employers and individual defendants,” the legal memo in the women’s suits stated.
The male plaintiff, a former safety inspector at the Bemidji mill, is a disabled veteran with Hispanic and Black heritage. In his civil suit seeking $50,000 in damages, he detailed several instances of racial discrimination, a hostile work environment, defamation, retaliatory action and invasion of privacy. His suit is also directed toward several managers at PotlatchDeltic.
“In March 2024, a female plant employee asked plaintiff for assistance in handling/reporting a persistent problem she was having with another employee. She explained that she had reported harassment on multiple occasions to human resources with no positive result, and requested his help,” stated the male plaintiff’s amended complaint filed Jan. 20.
Addressing sexual harassment claims was not part of his job description, but the man agreed to set up a meeting between the female employee and management, the complaint stated.
“He recalls the human resources managers being angry with him for pushing the sexual harassment issue on behalf of the female employee," the complaint stated. "These actions made it increasingly more difficult for plaintiff to effectively perform his job and effectively implement the safety protocols he felt necessary."
The suit alleges one of the codefendants unlawfully distributed private information about the man’s medical condition to other managers. After 18 months on the job, the male plaintiff resigned. He claims in his suit that some of the defendants continue to disparage him publicly in an attempt to tarnish his reputation.
In a Jan. 27 interview with KAXE, the man said he was hopeful the merger would be beneficial to the Bemidji mill’s workplace culture.
"It's a good old boys' club, but I think now that's going to be broken up because Rayonier is like an international corporation,” he said.
Motion hearings for the three civil cases are set for March 5.
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