Owner and CEO of Dallas-based Home Mortgage Services (HMS) Inc., Bob Lovell, has countersued his workplace sexual assault accuser, and petitioned a judge to reveal her identity.
Lovell’s attorneys filed a suit on February 8 that stated the accuser breached her employment contract and owes him $55,000. According to court documents, the money was allegedly advance pay that the accuser received from HMS Inc.
In December 2021, an unnamed female employee of Home Marketing Services sued the company after accusing Bob Lovell of sexually assaulting her in the office during work hours.
The suit, filed in Dallas County, alleges that Lovell required the accuser to perform sexual acts in the workplace. It also claims that when she refused, Lovell used her employment as leverage and retaliated against her and her family.
The suit additionally alleges that Lovell groomed and manipulated multiple young female employees into fulfilling sexual demands in the workplace.
In January 2022, Lovell requested that the judge overseeing the case reveal the accuser’s identity, claiming that he can “only speculate about the plaintiff’s identity.”
In response, the accuser’s attorneys alleged that Lovell and his team had sent them an email before making the request, in which the team threatened to reveal her identity in filings themselves.
“This is a standard but sad tactic for the defendant to attack the victim. We are confident that the counterclaim will be defeated,” said Rogge Dunn, an attorney representing the accuser.
Lovell has denied all allegations against him and his company in addition to countersuing the accuser. Lovell’s attorneys have also asked that Judge Sally Montgomery, who is overseeing the case, prevent any attorneys involved in the case from speaking with the media.
Judge Montgomery is expected to hold a hearing on whether to reveal the accuser’s name, but a date has not been set. The case against Lovell is set to be heard in a non-jury trial on April 17, 2023.