Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber responded to a sexual harassment lawsuit with both barrels blazing today. Mayor Yarber answered Kimberly Bracey's federal complaint and then filed a counterclaim against her for defamation. Mrs. Bracey was Mayor Yarber's executive assistant and is married to Santore Bracey.
Mayor Yarber charged in his counterclaim:
At all times material and relevant, the Counter-Defendant made numerous false and defamatory statements concerning Counter-Plaintiff.Mayor Yarber also sued Mrs. Bracey for abuse of process and stated:
19. That at all times material and relevant, said statements were unprivileged and were published to third parties.
20. At all times material and relevant, said statements were made with malice, recklessness and with knowledge that said statements were false.
21. The actions of the Counter-Defendant constitute defamation.
22. That as a direct and proximate result of said defamation, Counter-Plaintiff has been caused to suffer damages of a personal and pecuniary nature, including but not limited to out of pocket expenses, damage to reputation, attorney’s fees, and other damages to be proven at trial.
13. That the filing of the Complaint and the filing and service of the Amended Complaint containing false allegations against the Counter-Plaintiff by the Counter-Defendant is a malicious perversion of a regularly issued civil process, for a purpose and to obtain a result not lawfully warranted or properly attainable thereby.
14. That the actions of the Counter-Defendant were done with the intent to abuse the privileges of the legal system.
He seeks an unspecified amount of damages. The Mayor's answer to the complaint contained the standard denials that are usually found in such responses. However, the Mayor claimed that Mrs. Bracey "falsely" alleged in her complaint that she had a sexual relationship with the Mayor and that the Mayor had "numerous sexual relationships with other women" during his tenure as Mayor.
Mrs. Bracey sued the Mayor in August and made several salacious allegations. The complaint mentioned strippers, fundraisers, and even body-paint. She stated that she had an affair with the Mayor after he performed the wedding ceremony with her and her husband. However, she claimed that she feared retaliation when she tried to end the affair.
Attorney Nick Norris represents Kimberly Bracey while attorney Judy Barnett represents Mayor Yarber. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan, III.
Documents posted below:
Page 1: Answer
Page 12: First amended complaint
Page 21: First complaint
Page 29: EEOC letter
16 comments:
The part I got the best laugh about was the damage to his reputation.
We don't have to watch Soaps on TV just listen to this mess that "Phony Tony" is doing these days.
Tony, if she is lying why would Kenny say on his radio show (1300am Sunday Morning) that the city is going to have to settle this lawsuit out of court. Is this the best you can come up with before our election next year?
Tony, fire is hot. Put it out and go on home son.
I hopeYarber isn't paying for this defense. The strategy is flawed, if not damn crazy! Baby Boy needs to stop the embarrassment and go home. If this mess continues, he will take down a lot of his cronies as well.
Resign Tony.
Judy Barnett seems like a light weight with that response. Hope the Judge uses Rule 11 against her pronto.
Defamation is an interesting theory/concept/reality. What can or cannot be said regarding a public figure or celebrity? Where is the line? Or is there one when it comes to celebrity or well known players in the community, or for that matter nationally? For example, a gentleman in Madison County who regularly claims others are defaming him. These questions are asked seriously.
It has been nearly impossible for anyone to win a defamation or slander suit in this country for decades.
It's part of the reason we have such an awful political campaign.
Celebrities have had to sue in Great Britain ( Carol Burnett is an example) when they find a tabloid story particularly onerous. Of course, British tabloids have to pick it up.
Even then, they have to have and be willing to spend an enormous amount of money or else find a lawyer who is willing ( and his firm is willing) to wait for a judgement to be paid.
If your name or image has ever appeared in public media, you are seen as a " public figure" and it's not enough to prove whatever was said was a damaging lie, you have to prove malicious intent and that the person knew it was a lie.
That's nearly impossible.
It will be years before this case is settled and as is obvious in these comments, the damage is done and many of the jurors are likely to have formed an opinion.
We need to strengthened our libel, slander and defamation laws to put a damper on the outrageous propaganda in our Nation in hopes of saving our democratic republic.
I hope he's got a winnable case and not because I think he is a good mayor ( I don't) but I'd love to see precedent set and these Goebbels tactics in this country come to an end.
If the mayor spent as much time on solving infrastructure problems as he apparently does fooling around and defending it, maybe this city would be livable again.
This reads like one or two commentators posting over and over.
That said, if there's any truth to what she's alleging, he should have settled early and fast. That's survivable. Having a long, drawn out process and then losing isn't going to be good for his career.
As my grandmother would say, "this is just shameful, the mayor need to sit his ass down".
6:56...I'm 3:41. Thank you for your post.
3:41 thank you for asking and 6:56 thank you for answering. this is 10:41 signing out.
No wonder we pay these yahoos so much money, they have to lawyer up every week or two.
10-4, 10:41. Don't forget to check the door-knob at Floyd's Barber Shop.
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