NC House Speaker sued for alienation of affection

An assistant principal and former Apex Town Council member claims North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore had an affair with his wife for more than three years, resulting in the “destruction” of his marriage.

On Sunday, Scott Lassiter, an assistant principal for the Wake County Public School System, filed a lawsuit against North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, alleging that he had a relationship with Lassiter’s wife, Jamie Liles Lassiter.

The couple married in 2013, according to the lawsuit. While Lassiter claims the couple separated in January, Liles Lassiter told WRAL that the couple signed a separation document "years" ago.

In the lawsuit, Lassiter claims that “Moore used his position as one of the most powerful elected officials in North Carolina to entice Plaintiff’s wife, (Liles Lassiter), a mid-level employee of the state government, to participate in an illicit relationship with him.”

The lawsuit includes a photo that allegedly shows Moore and Liles Lassiter walking together near Sullivan’s Steakhouse in Raleigh on Dec. 21. The lawsuit also claims, without offering proof, that Moore and Liles Lassiter had group sex with people seeking political favors.

Lassiter claims in the lawsuit that, on Dec. 26, he confronted Moore about his relationship with Liles Lassiter at a Biscuitville restaurant on Western Boulevard in Raleigh. There, the lawsuit claims, Moore acknowledged the relationship and asked Lassiter if there was anything he could do for him.

Who pays for affairs in NC?

Moore, who lives in Kings Mountain, has served as speaker since 2015. In a statement to WRAL, he described the lawsuit as “baseless.”

“We will vigorously defend this action and pursue all available legal remedies,” Moore said.

Stacy Miller, Moore’s personal attorney, also dismissed the allegations against Moore.

“I look forward to meeting Mr. Lassiter in the courtroom. We are confident the Speaker will be vindicated,” Miller told WRAL.

In a statement to WRAL, Liles Lassiter cast the lawsuit as punitive and suggested that Moore is not to blame for their estrangement.

“Scott Lassiter has serious mental health and substance abuse issues, which I can only assume led him to file this outrageous and defamatory suit," her statement says.

"The claims are not only false but impossible as we’ve been separated with a signed separation document for years," she continued. "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. 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 didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. His attorney released the following statement:

“The complaint speaks for itself. There is irrefutable evidence to support Mr. Lassiter’s claims.”

In addition to Moore, the lawsuit lists a second, unnamed party as a defendant. It claims the second defendant trespassed on Lassiter’s property to install a camera in a tree “at an angle facing Plaintiff’s house so that it could, upon information and belief, capture photos and video recordings of events inside and outside (Lassiter’s) home.”

Defendants will have 30 days to respond to Lassiter’s filing, according to Lindsay Willis, an attorney with Rosen Law Group who spoke to WRAL about alienation of affection cases.

“Right now, we only get to see the plaintiff side of things," Willis said.

Most cases involving affairs are settled out of court, she added.

“It’s explosive to file this knowing you are going to have so many eyes on it,” Willis said. “For the most part, people don’t take it this far.”

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