Strange doings in Wake County. A jury awarded $1.15 million to the former butler of Gregory Moore, president of Smithfield Chicken ‘n Bar-B-Q. Jason Hallaman, 39, claimed that Moore sexually harassed him and tried to frame him on check forgery charge. Moore, 51, denied all the claims, but the jury sided with Hallaman.
The N&O reports that Hallaman said Moore:
…propositioned him in July 2002 on his first day of work as Moore’s house manager, or butler. He said his boss leaned over and made a suggestive comment while his face hovered above Hallaman’s crotch. According to Hallaman, events escalated from there — including an instance where a naked Moore jumped into the shower with Hallaman — and Hallaman was fired nine weeks later.
Moore denied that he ever acted inappropriately and told jurors he fired Hallaman because of his temper, poor work performance and a check to which Hallaman signed Moore’s name. The check was made out to Dirty Deeds, a company that cleaned Moore’s cars.
Hallaman testified that Moore asked him to sign the check and speculated that it was part of a plot to fire him and have him arrested. The criminal charges were later dismissed.
Jurors also heard from four other men who described similar advances, and who were also fired after they said they turned Moore down.
In a pre-trial deposition, Moore said he is bisexual, but he denied harassing Hallaman. Moore’s attorney said Hallaman was let go after a dispute over a check and poor job performance.
Two other former Smithfield’s employees, both men, also filed sexual harassment lawsuits against Moore. One was settled, and the second hasn’t gone to trial yet.
WRAL reported previous testimony from other former employees of Moore:
Lowell Kirk, John Vann, Paul Boyd and Randy Martin all testified Monday that Moore also propositioned them, made suggestive comments or physically touched them when they worked for him.
“One morning, he called on the intercom and asked me to come up to his quarters. When I got there, he was fully nude,” said Boyd, who worked as Moore’s assistant in 2004.
“He says, ‘You know, you look really sexy. You’re a really sexy-looking guy,'” said Vann, who managed several Smithfield’s restaurants and was Moore’s chief of staff last year.
Kirk, who worked as Moore’s butler in 2002, shortly before Hallaman was hired, said he was at Moore’s lake house during his third day on the job when Moore called him to his room.
“He asked me to take a seat on or to join him in bed. I wound up sitting on the corner of the bed,” Kirk said. “He was underneath the covers, and they were partially pulled back. So, I could see he was not wearing any underwear.”
That can’t be good.
Moore’s lawyers indicated that they’ll appeal the jury’s decision.
