Office affair, labor violations lead to suit against dentist

A dental assistant who reportedly engaged in a decades-long workplace love affair with a dentist in Maine filed a lawsuit against her paramour claiming that he dumped and fired her after his wife found out about the affair, according to multiple news reports.

Additionally, Lucinda "Terra" Burns filed a lawsuit on December 9 in the U.S. District of Maine claiming that Dr. Aaron Palmer refused to pay her and her co-workers overtime pay they were owed while working at Palmer's Smile Design Ellsworth in Ellsworth, ME.

Burns is claiming gender discrimination, creating a hostile work environment, sexual harassment, and violating the Maine Human Rights Act by retaliating against her. She is seeking unspecified monetary damages, according to the stories.

In 2013, Palmer and Burns, who were both married, purportedly began their illicit relationship. This was about a year after Burns began working at the practice. Palmer allegedly initiated the dalliance by touching her during work, including during patient procedures, until things escalated. The suit claims that Palmer and Burns eventually had sex on the basement floor of the practice, according to the reports.

Despite feeling guilty about the affair, Burns claims she continued to carry on the relationship with Palmer for a decade. Palmer allegedly tried to keep his mistress happy by buying her gifts and giving her an easy job at his second practice in which she collected a $2,000 weekly stipend for showing up only a handful of times per month, according to the stories.

Though generous with gifts and perks, Palmer allegedly refused to pay overtime to Burns or other employees. One employee calculated that overtime owed was estimated at about $50,000 per year.

Burns claimed that Palmer had other problems with his employees. She claimed that he fired two women in two weeks and offered one employee an antique car to resolve payment problems, according to the stories.

Though the relationship between the pair was allegedly consensual, Burns claims that Palmer based the terms of her employment on sex and made her uncomfortable about leaving her position or ending their relationship.

After Burns' husband learned of the affair in 2022, he demanded a divorce. To prevent Burns' husband from telling Palmer's wife of the relationship, the dentist reportedly offered tens of thousands of dollars and a car if they kept the secret and allowed Burns to keep working at the practice, according to the stories.

However, Palmer's wife allegedly learned about the affair when she found Burns' toothbrush and toothpaste in his car after one of their meetups. After that, Palmer did not report to work the rest of the week while Burns did. Burns had no communication with the dentist until January 21, 2023, when he allegedly sent her an email in which he told her she was fired, according to the stories.

Burns claimed in the suit that Palmer offered to pay her for eight weeks but did not pay the final $2,000 or the years in back overtime compensation.