Lafayette attorney files defamation lawsuit against 3 former employees

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Lafayette attorney Earl McCoy filed a civil defamation lawsuit against three of his former employees — including the woman who accused him of sexual battery — in which he asks the court for a $1 million judgment against the women.

McCoy accused the trio of defamation, adding that their plot has cost him more than $200,000 in lost business since news about his charge for attempted sexual battery was filed in March 2023.

He specifically accuses former employees Ashly King and the woman who accused him of attempted sexual battery, whom the J&C is not naming because of the allegation — of defamation. Additionally, he accuses former employee Abigail Beiter of conspiracy to defame him.

The Journal & Courier called King and McCoy's accuser for comment. They have not responded as of Monday afternoon.

The Journal & Courier reached Beiter, who declined to comment about the lawsuit or its allegations.

“In one year, it’s already cost $200,000 less to come into my office, and that’s continuing to accrue,” McCoy said of the damage to his reputation and his legal practice. “Is it going to take me five years to regain my name and build my business back?”

King and the woman who accused McCoy of sexual battery wanted McCoy to fire the firm's most senior employee. "(T)hat would free up funds to increase their salaries," McCoy alleges in his civil suit against the two.

When McCoy refused to fire the experienced employee, King and his accuser concocted a plan to accuse McCoy of sexual battery, according to McCoy's civil lawsuit, which states that on June 13, 2022, King threatened McCoy, texting, "My only goal now is to bring you and her down. You f___ked with the wrong one."

Two days later, King allegedly arranged for two third-party people to meet with McCoy's wife. During that meeting, McCoy alleges they told his wife "false statements in a deliberate, malicious attempt to disrupt the plaintiff('s) ... marriage."

On June 17, 2022, more than a month after McCoy's accuser alleged he tried to force himself on her, King and the other woman went to police and "levied a false allegation of attempted sexual battery against the plaintiff."

His accuser told police McCoy tried to sexually assault her in McCoy's office on May 6, 2022, according to the probable cause affidavit in the criminal case. King corroborated the woman's statements, McCoy alleged in the civil lawsuit filed Friday afternoon.

McCoy also accuses King, his accuser and Beiter of conspiring to defame him.

On June 13, 2022, McCoy accused Beiter of secretly recording a conversation with him in an effort to get information "that could be used to defame" McCoy, according to the civil suit. Beiter then provided those recordings to King and McCoy's accuser.

The lawsuit states, "(W)hile the original purpose of the conspiracy was to obtain money from the plaintiff ..., through a fabricated sexual harassment claim, when that failed, the defendants' ... (purpose) simply became to defame the plaintiff."

The criminal case against McCoy

A special prosecutor out of Delaware County filed one count of sexual battery against McCoy in March 2023.

On April 23, 2024, McCoy's trial started with a courtroom full of potential jurors. But before the jury was selected, the special prosecutor offered McCoy a diversion program, which means the charge will be dismissed in April if there are no other legal incidents.

McCoy took the offer.

“By taking the diversion, I never gave up my right to a trial, and I’m going to have my trial,” McCoy said. With the civil case, the allegations against him will be publicly vetted if it goes to trial.

“The evidence we’re going to present in this case is going to be essentially the same evidence (as the criminal case)," McCoy said. "But I have a lot more leeway in a civil case than I do in a criminal case.”

Rebuilding his law practice

McCoy filed his civil case in Tippecanoe Superior 2 for symbolic reasons.

“I filed it in Superior 2 because that’s where I began my career," he said Monday. "I began my career as an intern in Superior 2.

“I’ve been working 28, 29 years to build my reputation before this allegation was made," he said. "I’m fighting to get my reputation back in that same courtroom where I started building it in 1996. It means a lot to me.”

In McCoy's criminal case, all of the judges in the county recused themselves, so the special judge was appointed. As of Monday, no online filings yet indicate that Superior 2 Judge Steve Meyer will recuse himself.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette attorney files lawsuit, accusing ex-employees of defamation