Scott Lassiter, an assistant principal at Connections Academy Middle School and member of the Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors, filed a lawsuit against N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, accusing Moore of helping to break up Lassiter’s marriage.
Lassiter, a Republican, says Moore had a secret affair with his wife that lasted for more than three years and resulted in the “destruction” of his marriage.
Moore denies the accusation, describing the lawsuit as “baseless” and saying he and his attorneys “will vigorously defend this action and pursue all available legal remedies.”
Lassiter is claiming alienation of affection and alleging damages in excess of $25,000, which is the threshold to go to Superior Court. Lassiter is seeking total damages from Moore and an unnamed man of at least $200,000.
Proving Alienation of Affection in NC
In order to succeed in his lawsuit, Lassiter would need to prove the following, according to Montgomery Family Law:
- You and your spouse were in a valid marriage with genuine love and affection;
- The love and affection between you and your spouse were destroyed and alienated;
- The wrongful and malicious behavior of the third party was the cause of the destruction and alienation of your spouse’s love and affection;
- The wrongful and malicious behavior occurred prior to the separation of you and your spouse; and
- The alienation damaged you (i.e., led to the dissolution of your marriage, separation, depression, economic loss, etc).
North Carolina is one of only six states in the United States that still has alienation of affection laws.
Stacy Miller, Moore’s attorney, said he was confident his client would be “vindicated” and she “look[ed] forward to seeing Mr. Lassiter in the courtroom.”
Jamie Liles Lassiter, Scott’s wife, said she has been separated from her husband for years and said he is lying about the claims.
“Scott Lassiter has serious mental health and substance abuse issues, which I can only assume led him to file this outrageous and defamatory suit,” she told WRAL. “The claims are not only false but impossible as we’ve been separated with a signed separation document for years.”
Jamie Liles Lassiter is a public notary and the executive director of the North Carolina Conference of Clerks of Superior Court. She previously worked as a grants specialist for the Governor’s Crime Commission, research adviser to the office of the N.C. House speaker pro tem, and a deputy clerk of Superior Court for the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.
She said her husband abused her and threatened her career.
“To be clear, I’m a strong professional woman, and the only person who has ever abused me or threatened my career was my soon to be ex-husband,” Jamie Liles Lassiter statement read. “Our marriage was a nightmare, and since I left him it has gotten worse. We are reaching the end of our divorce process, and this is how he’s lashing out.”
Scott Lassiter’s attorney, Alicia Jurney, said in a statement to WRAL that the evidence against Moore is abundant.
“The complaint speaks for itself,” Jurney said. “There is irrefutable evidence to support Mr. Lassiter’s claims.”
the claims in the lawsuit:
The lawsuit alleges that Scott and his wife “lived continuously together as husband and wife” from the time they were married in 2013 until January 2023. They split as a result of “Moore’s adulterous extramarital relationship with Mrs. Lassiter.”
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Scott Lassiter confirmed the adulterous relationship on Dec. 21, 2022.
“Mrs. Lassiter went to dinner with Defendant Tim Moore at Sullivan’s Steakhouse in Raleigh, North Carolina,” the lawsuit says. “After dinner, Defendant Tim Moore drove Mrs. Lassiter, in the Lassiters’ car, to his residence in Raleigh, where they spent hours together and, upon information and belief, had sexual intercourse.”
Lassiter submitted a photo of the couple leaving Sullivan’s together, with Moore walking toward the driver’s side of the car.
Scott Lassiter goes on to say that his wife confessed the affair to him the next morning and said she feared losing her job if she ceased her relations with Moore.
Scott Lassiter then claims he met with Moore at a Biscuitville restaurant to confront him about the affair, where he says Moore admitted to the affair and asked if there was anything he could do for him.
Later in the lawsuit, Scott Lassiter claims Moore hired a man to install a hidden camera on Lassiter’s property in an effort to blackmail him. Lassiter provides a photo of the man who allegedly installed the camera.
Moore is serving a record fifth term as N.C. House speaker.