Lawyer Sues Gloria Allred, Claims She Stole Clients Who Accused John Travolta
A DUI and sexual harassment lawyer from Pasadena has filed a lawsuit against Gloria Allred claiming she stole two massage-therapist clients who accused John Travolta of groping and sexual harassment.
Lawyer Okorie Chukwudimm Okorocha sued Allred in Los Angeles County superior court on Monday, CNN reports. He alleges intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional interference with prospective economic relations and unfair business practices. In an interview with CNN, Okorocha complained that Allred “only does press conferences and sideshows, and doesn’t actually go to court or do trials.”
Allred denied that she solicited one of the clients and called Okorocha’s allegations “false, outrageous and defamatory,” the story says.
Okorocha had sued Travolta on behalf of the anonymous masseurs after the National Enquirer ran a “shocking tell-all” in March about one of the men’s allegations, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Los Angeles suit was withdrawn after Travolta’s lawyer pointed out his client was in New York on one of the dates in question.
“What remained,” the Los Angeles Times says, “were questions about how a small-time attorney with financial problems and a desire to boost his legal profile got the case in the first place and why a sloppy and inaccurate court filing was able to generate so much unwanted attention on an A-list star.”
The suit appeared “hastily written,” the Los Angeles Times says. One paragraph’s reference to “assault and battery by a peace officer” appeared to be a cut and paste. The complaint also contained “irrelevant details” about a personal chef who made hamburgers for Travolta and information about wrappers from chocolate cake packages in the actor’s SUV, the story says.
Okorocha filed for bankruptcy last summer, listing annual income of about $70,000 and debts of $1.2 million, according to the Times.
