Paula Deen Harassment Suit Could Get Dismissed By Judge

Earlier this month, Lisa Jackson, a former employee of Uncle Bubba's Oyster and Shrimp House, a restaurant owned by Paula Deen and her brother Bobby Hiers, sued her former employers for sexual harassment and racial discrimination. It wasn't absolutely inconceivable that Deen and Hiers might have done or said some of the things alleged in the suit. But the timing was suspect. It was hard to believe that the suit followed so hard upon Deen's diabetes scandal by chance. Some wondered whether Jackson could have been seizing on Deen's temporary weakness as an opportunity to shake her and her brother down for hush money.

Deen's lawyers latched on to this sort of argument when they emphatically denial of the claims in the suit immediately after it was filed.

And last week, her attorneys made a legal argument to the same effect. On March 21, they filed a motion in the Chatham County Court to dismiss the lawsuit.

The Augusta Chronicle reports that Deen's attorneys are saying that the suit was filed for "improper and unethical purposes." Specifically, they're arguing the suit was intended to blackmail Deen on the threat of defaming her business reputation. And what better time to do so than when her reputation is already in question?

Of course, it's also possible that the timing is a coincidence. Or that, even if it's not a coincidence, the claims in the suit are still true. But if the judge in the case agrees to drop the case before discover, we may never know.

Comments

[Leon Holston Sr]

09:50 AM on 04/03/2012

PAULA CALL JENNY SHE IS WAITING ON YOU.

[MeMyselfI]

03:54 PM on 04/02/2012

I'd like to know why Lisa Jackson is no longer an employee and when she became an ex one.

[summerbreeeez]

02:32 PM on 04/02/2012

Does she have pigtails in that photo?!?

[LibertarianCentrist]

12:50 PM on 04/02/2012

Since when is denial of an occurrence grounds for dismissal???

[UCBAlum]

03:12 AM on 04/02/2012

Do they even have sexual harassment laws in the south? I know in Virginia its legal to fire or not hire someone because they're gay.

[martha high]

12:58 AM on 04/02/2012

Everybody kick her while she is down...beast mentality

[Kalikat]

10:30 PM on 04/01/2012

Isn't it a shame that every time some one files a law suit, every body believes it is true. I think the woman is out to make money. Didn't she tell Paula and her Uncle if they gave her such and such an amount of money then she wouldn't file a lawsuit. They wouldn't do it and she filed. How can you believe that she is telling the truth. If she really had happen to her what she said she would have filed the lawsuit and not tried to blackmail Paula and her Uncle.

[Democrat in the South]

10:15 PM on 04/01/2012

Paula should have left while they still wanted her. She stayed too long.

[crystal clear 919]

09:56 PM on 04/01/2012

Whoa! That is not a flattering pic!

[bmwracer]

11:26 PM on 04/01/2012

Seems like every pic of her looks like a deer in the headlights.

[martha high]

12:57 AM on 04/02/2012

yes and Huffington post just happen to find it...these people are amazing, She does not look like that now ,she has lost weight and has much shorter hair. This is a picture to help people form a negative opinion of her ...I'm losing respect everyday for the media

[farginbastidge]

01:42 PM on 04/02/2012

No, be honest, now. ALL pictures of Paula Deen are unflattering--even those used by Food Network or on the covers of her own cookbooks. Her posed smile is very forced, and her wide open, stunned-looking eyes are almost terrifying. On video, she is far less freaky-looking. Someone has apparently given her terrible advice about how to pose for still photos ("smile big and open your eyes really wide!"), and she sticks to it like a champ. I have never seen an attractive photo of this woman.

[crystal clear 919]

09:29 PM on 04/02/2012

Martha High, I'd have to agree with you. This is definitely a "hidden agenda" pic.

[bahkey]

08:02 PM on 04/01/2012

The "FAT CAT" can afford a better attorney

[bkisses]

05:41 PM on 04/01/2012

did for once the judge think this lady could be telling the truth that she was sexually harassed and treated unfairly and her co workers. I dont think paula dean is as nice as she wants everyone to think she is..

[Decipherer]

09:30 AM on 04/01/2012

In the last sentence, the word is "discovery," OK?

[spinnerator]

07:57 AM on 04/01/2012

The old "she's a liar because we say so" legal gambit. Hardly grounds to dismiss.

[madame fate]

09:24 AM on 04/01/2012

Well, what else would she say? Two warring parties always claim the other side is lying.

[queenjulia]

09:26 AM on 04/01/2012

How very, very kind of you!

[Democrat in the South]

10:16 PM on 04/01/2012

Are you describing yourself?

[mi4]

11:30 PM on 04/01/2012

No. I was describing you..

[tkns]

12:28 AM on 04/01/2012

Good Lord, the photo on top makes her look like a stuffed pig.

[bahkey]

08:03 PM on 04/01/2012

She stuffed herself