Slama fires back in legal fight against Herbster | Crime-and-courts

Nebraska state Sen. Julie Slama on Monday hit back against a lawsuit filed Friday by GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles W. Herbster. Slama’s attorney called Herbster’s suit “a frivolous and bad-faith attempt to bully a sexual assault victim into silence.”

Herbster filed a lawsuit after the Nebraska Examiner reported allegations from eight women who said Herbster had groped them. Slama was the only named accuser.

Herbster, a Republican megadonor and Conklin Co. CEO, is among the front-runners competing for the Republican nomination in the May 10 primary.

He has vehemently denied all accusations. Friday, he filed suit in Johnson County District Court alleging that Slama made “false and defamatory statements” when she confirmed the allegations to the Examiner and repeated them during an interview on Omaha radio station KFAB.

Slama had not yet been served the suit, according to attorney Dave Lopez, but chose to file a response and counterclaim alleging battery. Court documents also show Slama gave notice to depose Herbster May 6, the Friday before Election Day.

“These steps will immediately preserve Senator Slama’s legal rights and guarantee that Herbster’s pending lawsuit against her includes her response and counterclaim,” a statement from Lopez reads.

Lopez suggested Herbster was using the news media to cast doubt on Slama’s allegations while dodging legal accountability by not serving the suit.

“Charles Herbster chose to subject himself to Nebraska’s judicial system,” Lopez said, “and Senator Slama will hold him to that choice.”

The Nebraska Examiner reported April 14 that Herbster reached up Slama’s dress without her consent and touched her inappropriately at the Douglas County Republican Party’s 2019 Elephant Remembers dinner. Slama confirmed the Examiner’s reporting in a statement the same day. The World-Herald has not independently corroborated the seven other accounts in the Examiner’s story.

Herbster has framed the allegations as a political hit job devised by fellow Republican candidate Jim Pillen, who is a University of Nebraska regent and hog producer from Columbus, and Gov. Pete Ricketts, who has backed Pillen.

Herbster alleged in his lawsuit that news media coverage of Slama’s statement has brought “disrepute and damage to his reputation.”

In her response, Slama refuted Herbster’s accusations. She also alleged the original lawsuit is “defective in several key respects,” including that it was filed in an improper venue and doesn’t include necessary elements of a public libel claim.

She repeats her allegations against Herbster in the countersuit: Shortly after she entered the dinner, as she headed to her table, Slama — then a 22-year-old, recently appointed state senator — “felt Herbster’s hand reach up her dress and inappropriately touch her,” the countersuit reads.

According to the filing, other people witnessed what happened or were aware of it. The filing also says that Slama and others saw Herbster “grab the buttocks of another woman” just a few minutes later. 

“Slama was shocked, mortified, and traumatized by Herbster’s actions,” the countersuit reads. “Slama was also frightened of retribution that could occur if she came forward because she knew Herbster was a multimillionaire and a major donor for the Republican Party in Nebraska.”

Herbster’s actions, she alleges, amounted to battery and caused damage to her reputation and mental and emotional health, among other damages. She requested damages and a jury trial.

Deputy Herbster campaign manager Rod Edwards said Monday that the campaign still plans to file a lawsuit against the Examiner. The outlet has said it stands by its reporting.

Herbster’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Slama’s filing.