When is a lawsuit not a lawsuit? Sometimes that’s something on which even a lawyer and his client can’t agree.
Jimmy Love, a lawyer and Democrat representing North Carolina’s 51st House District, says he never was sued for sexual harassment in 1997. But official court records show that he was the subject of a counterclaim — technically, a lawsuit — brought by two former female legal clients who accused him of sexual misconduct.
In addition, the two women sued Love (PDF download) in Wake County Superior Court for compensatory damages. Because none of the litigants lived in Wake County, however, the case was dismissed for lack of proper venue.
In a telephone interview with Carolina Journal, Love categorically denied that the women had sued him, saying it was “absolutely” not true — a statement contrary to court documents and repeated references in the Herald during the trial calling the women’s action against Love a lawsuit.
“I filed the only lawsuit that was filed in that incident,” Love said, “and they filed some counterclaims, but the jury eliminated all that. The only lawsuit filed, I filed for slander and libel, and tried it out and I won. There were no previous lawsuits.”
Contacted by phone, Love’s attorney in the case, Chip Post of Sanford, acknowledged that the women did indeed sue his client.
“Technically, they did file a lawsuit,” Post said. “The practical aspects of it was that it was dismissed because it was improper, and the bottom line is the fact-finders found the allegations to be false, malicious, slanderous, and awarded [Love] money damages, which he collected.”
The decade-old sexual harassment allegations have emerged as Love is locked in a tough re-election fight in the district that covers Lee County and parts of Harnett County. He’s served 14 years in the state House, including five terms from 1967 to 1976, and now serves as attorney for the Lee County Board of Education and Central Carolina Community College.
Love filed the first lawsuit in the scuffle in April 1997, alleging that Cathy Marks maliciously slandered him. Marks, in conjunction with fellow Sanford resident Evelyn May, filed a counterclaim in Love’s suit (PDF download).
In their lawsuit, both women made lurid claims of a sexual nature against Love, and May’s husband also sued Love for allegedly damaging his relationship with his wife.
Court records show that Marks and the Mays attempted to move the trial outside of Lee County, without success. Love also filed numerous motions to exclude evidence and testimony from witnesses pertaining to the sexual misconduct allegations.
May ended up dropping the sexual harassment portion of her complaint and only asserted that Love had failed to provide her proper legal services (PDF download). May’s husband dropped his complaint as well.
A jury exonerated Love in the case and found that Marks had slandered him, awarding a $20,000 judgment.
Raleigh attorney Charles Putterman, who represented Marks and the Mays in the case, said the counterclaim also was a lawsuit.
“For argument’s sake, if he were to dismiss his claim against the party that he sued, the counterclaim remains,” Putterman said. “It doesn’t just go away because you discontinue or dismiss your lawsuit. The counterclaim is a separate, independent claim.”
Love faces Republican challenger Mike Stone, a small business owner Sanford’s mayor pro tem, in the General Election Nov. 2.
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.