A state judge has dismissed another lawsuit filed against Tim Ballard — this one brought by a woman who said he’d attempted to silence her criticism of him and Operation Underground Railroad, the anti-trafficking organization he founded.
Attorneys for the woman who brought the suit, Suzanne Whitehead, said they plan to re-file the suit against Ballard — as the judge allowed — and appeal the dismissal of the claim against OUR.
Whitehead worked for an anti-trafficking group in Nepal and had publicly challenged OUR’s claims about how many children it had rescued, the quality of aftercare the children receive and accused OUR of taking credit for work her organization had done.
Whitehead’s lawsuit alleged that after she posted her criticism on social media, Ballard and an associate contacted her supervisor, trying to get her to take down the posts and convince her to stop criticizing Ballard and OUR. Her boss also told her that Attorney General Sean Reyes had called about her posts, according to the lawsuit
Her lawsuit had originally named Reyes as a defendant, accusing him of using his position to intimidate her, but after Reyes apologized to Whitehead she dropped her claims against him.
Ballard’s attorneys argued their client’s conduct did not rise to the level of harassment or intimidation and that Ballard can’t be held responsible for the actions or statements of others. Even if he could, the lawyers argued, it did not rise to the level of “outrageous” behavior as defined by the law.
On Friday, Third District Judge Charles Stormont dismissed the suit, ruling that Ballard’s alleged actions, and those of OUR, were protected under a law passed last year preventing lawsuits based on speech expressed by an individual.
In addition to dismissing the suit, Stormont ordered Whitehead to pay OUR’s attorneys fees.
“It took Ms. Whitehead years to decide she had experienced ‘severe’ emotional distress following a brief social media dispute with Tim Ballard and a Utah judge has now dismissed her case after finding no substance to it,” Ballard’s attorney, Mark Eisenhut, said in a statement.
Eisenhut said it is the “fourth set of frivolous claims” dismissed by the courts — two cases against Ballard and two against his wife, Katherine — adding, “we’re confident Mr. Ballard will be fully vindicated in the remaining cases too.”
Whitehead’s attorneys downplayed the severity of the judge’s ruling.
“It is a classic Tim Ballard ruse that he claims victory when he actually lost,” her attorneys said in a statement, adding that they would refile the case. “Ms. Whitehead remains committed to providing real, substantive and un-videotaped help to women and children worldwide, while Ballard invents rescues using AI-generated children so he can make pretend Hollywood movies.”
Recently, Ballard posted an image of social media of the faces of girls generated by artificial intelligence that, the post said, represented children he said were rescued from a child trafficking ring in Mexico.
The other case against Ballard that was dismissed was filed by Bree Righter — a former Marine whose eye socket was shattered during a training event at OUR’s Draper gym. That case was dismissed in June after a judge ruled that a liability waiver Righter had signed prevented her from seeking damages.
In both the Righter and Whitehead lawsuits the claims against OUR were dismissed, as well.
Three lawsuits remain pending. One was filed by five women accusing Ballard of sexual misconduct and assault; one was filed by Celeste Borys, Ballard’s former executive assistant, accusing him of rape and sexual assault; and the third is a defamation lawsuit filed by a woman who Ballard claimed was the basis for a child sex trafficker in the movie “Sound of Freedom,” but the woman says she never trafficked children and she has never been convicted of doing so.
Last month, a judge in the defamation case rejected a motion to dismiss, meaning attorneys for the woman can proceed with discovery in the case.
There are also a number of criminal complaints made in Utah County and several jurisdictions in California by Borys alleging Ballard sexually assaulted her. The status of those is unknown.
An open records request to the Utah County Sheriff’s office last month was denied.
Correction: Thursday, Aug. 8, 1:20 p.m. • The story has been updated to reflect that Ballard was not awarded attorneys fees.