{"id":2212,"date":"2023-12-20T00:08:25","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T01:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/?p=2212"},"modified":"2023-12-20T02:49:53","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T02:49:53","slug":"o-u-r-files-countersuit-alleging-defamation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/2023\/12\/20\/o-u-r-files-countersuit-alleging-defamation\/","title":{"rendered":"O.U.R. files countersuit alleging defamation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Suzette<\/p>\n

\n

Suzette Rasmussen, an attorney representing former employees and contractors of Operation Underground Railroad, speaks on behalf of her clients in front of the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Sept. 28, 2023. Attorneys representing O.U.R. filed a countersuit accusing counter-defendants of making defamatory claims about the organization.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Kristin Murphy, Deseret News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

On Monday, attorneys representing Operation Underground Railroad filed a countersuit in the 3rd Judicial District Court in Salt Lake County alleging counter-defendants made defamatory claims about the organization. <\/p>\n

One of the counter-defendants Celeste Borys started out as a community relations manager at O.U.R. in October 2021 and later became an executive assistant to Tim Ballard in March 2023. Her position was eliminated on June 28, 2023, according to the countersuit. <\/p>\n

Michael Green and Suzette Rasmussen, the attorneys representing Celeste Borys and her husband Michael Borys, the other named counter-defendant, did not immediately reply to a request for a statement. <\/p>\n

In October, five women filed a civil suit<\/a> against O.U.R and its former CEO Ballard. <\/p>\n

\u201cDefendant Ballard, intentionally, knowingly or recklessly, committed battery and sexual assault of Plantiffs, as all sexual touching was done under the Couples Ruse in order to help save trafficked children and women,\u201d the October suit alleged<\/a>. <\/p>\n

An attorney for Ballard previously issued a statement to the Deseret News<\/a> denying these allegations.<\/p>\n

O.U.R. filed the countersuit Monday in response to a different suit: an amended complaint filed by Celeste Borys and Michael Borys. The amended complaint was filed in early December and named Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad as defendants, among others. <\/p>\n

The amended complaint obtained by the Deseret News claimed \u201cat several points of time during her employment with Ballard, Ballard violently abused and assaulted Plaintiff Celeste Borys under the false pretense of the Couples Ruse and Operation Bodyguard.\u201d <\/p>\n

The amended complaint also claimed O.U.R. \u201cwas aware that Ballard had been accused of engaging in sexual affairs with at least eight different women consisting primarily of Ballard\u2019s former Couples Ruse partners.\u201d <\/p>\n

What did the countersuit allege?<\/h3>\n

The countersuit filed by O.U.R. alleged that Celeste Borys and Michael Borys made defamatory statements about O.U.R. and claimed \u201cMs. Borys\u2019 acts and omissions violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Mr. Ballard was on leave and after his termination, Ms. Borys gave no indication that any sexually inappropriate conduct had been directed towards her by Mr. Ballard despite the opportunities she was given to report misconduct,\u201d the countersuit claimed. <\/p>\n

The countersuit also alleged the following statement in the amended complaint was defamatory: \u201cA joint plan was hatched between O.U.R. and Ballard, whereby he would resign ostensibly because of the appearance of a conflict of interest with the release of \u2018Sound of Freedom,\u2019 in which he has a financial interest.\u201d <\/p>\n

The countersuit also made claims about the movie \u201cSound of Freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Sound of Freedom\u2019 is not a documentary about O.U.R. The movie appears to focus loosely on perceived life events of Tim Ballard (\u2018Mr. Ballard\u2019),\u201d the countersuit claimed. \u201cO.U.R. did not participate in its production, having a consulting role in the movie, or have approval rights.\u201d <\/p>\n

O.U.R. is seeking damages, attorneys\u2019 fees, the return of O.U.R. property \u201cincluding all company communications\u201d and for Celeste Borys to dismiss her complaint against O.U.R. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Suzette Rasmussen, an attorney representing former employees and contractors of Operation Underground Railroad, speaks on behalf of her clients in front of the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Sept. 28, 2023. Attorneys representing O.U.R. filed a countersuit accusing counter-defendants of making defamatory claims about the organization. Kristin Murphy, Deseret...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2212"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2213,"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212\/revisions\/2213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}