A married dentist in Maine has left his small-town rocked after he was sued by his former assistant – and alleged lover – who accused him of starting an explosive sex scandal.
Dr. Aaron Palmer is facing an 11-count civil filing from his married former employee, Lucina Burns, who claimed he pursued a relationship with her and when she tried leaving him and the dental practice.
Palmer, at the time, owned and operated Smile Design and Elevate Dental Extractions with Burns as his dental assistant from 2012 to 2023.
Over the years, their alleged relationship would continue on and off, before it was discovered by Palmer’s wife and Burns was ultimately fired ‘quite literally “because of sex”.’
Burns’ 29-page complaint accuses Palmer of not only ‘taking advantage of her sexually while holding a position of power as her boss’ but also ‘financially by failing to pay overtime’ and withholding wages after she left the job.
Throughout the filing, Palmer is accused of attempting to bribe Burns and her husband, as well as another colleague, with large sums of money or expensive gifts.
Their close relationship started after Palmer had allegedly kissed Burns, and Burns said it slowly progressed into a more serious affair when he began buying her gifts – one costing more than $1,400.
Burns, who was also married, claimed in her filing that she had felt severe guilt and remorse throughout their affair, but on occasions where she tried to leave Palmer would ‘comfort’ her and convince her to stay, usually with a gift
In 2021, Burns was handed a check for $5,000, which he had said was to help with the down payment for a car.
That same year, as a ‘bonus’, Palmer put Burns on salary instead of paying her hourly.
She was bumped from $32 per hour to $36 per hour for 40 hours of work, ‘plus the stipend from Elevate’ – which was $2,000 per month – regardless of the number of hours she worked.
Burns claimed that Palmer always reinitiated the affair, and she was ‘rewarded’ with more bonuses and gifts.
In 2022, Burns was given an American Express credit card worth $5,000 and Palmer wrote to her: ‘It can’t be overstated just how important you are to me! I want you to know that I recognize just how much of your personal time and energy you’ve put into making this a success. I can feel how much you really care… and I can’t express how much that really means to me.’
As their affair grew more intense in August of 2022, Burns said she began feeling more and more guilt and the work environment had become ‘hostile’.
She wanted to leave again and grew distant from him, which was met with Palmer professing his love for her saying he ‘could not live without her’, according to the filing.
Burns said Palmer went as far as offering to make her a partner in the practice and profit share with her.
As their alleged affair continued, Burns attended a wedding with her husband. It was then that she says he found the messages between Burns and Palmer.
Burns was hoping he would forgive her, as she claimed he had been unfaithful before, but he asked for a divorce.
Palmer had allegedly offered to pay for Burn’s mortgage, car payment and any bills – which she declined – after confiding that her husband had discovered the affair and expressing fears of losing her job.
Burns was looking after her children at her husband’s home when she discovered an email on his laptop from Palmer allegedly offering $50,000 in exchange for Burns’ husband’s silence, and a further $50,000 in three months.
On top of that, the dentist offered her estranged husband $50,000 per year ‘indefinitely’, but only ‘as long as my family stays together, AND your family stays together AND Terra [Burns] is still able to work at the practice’, according to the filing.
He told Burns, who arrived to work the next day in tears, that he did not want to be without her at the office and he wanted to compensate her husband so he could ‘keep’ her, according to the complaint.
Palmer also allegedly offered Burns’ husband a car.
Palmer’s wife discovered the alleged affair after her toothbrush had been left in his car following a rendezvous at a hotel in 2023. When Burns checked in on him, he texted her back and said: ‘I am not doing this without you, I need you there, don’t lose faith in me.’
A week went by, Palmer had called out every day while Burns continued to work until he sent her an email firing her.
She was offered eight weeks of pay, but she said she never received the last $2,000. He allegedly canceled the ‘gift’ American Express card, of which Burns had only used $1,800.
Palmer later emailed her and allegedly said he had ‘forced’ her into the situation between them, ‘including the affair and her termination.’
The filing said: ‘Even though the sexual relationship between Burns and Dr. Palmer was consensual, he conditioned the terms and privileges of her employment on sex and made her uncomfortable about leaving her job and/or ending their affair on multiple occasions for years before firing her.’
It further added that Burns believed her professional reputation had been tainted by Palmer, as she claimed she was unable to find a comparable job and her former colleagues had become aware of the lawsuit.
Burns has accused Palmer of not providing overtime pay for working over 40 hours a week, withholding payment for hours worked after she left the job, gender discrimination and creating a hostile work environment.
She’s also suing for his alleged sexual harassment, defamation, violating the Maine Human Rights Act by retaliating against her and unlawfully interfering with her attempts to find another job.
She had previously filed a complaint of discrimination with the Maine Human Rights Commission and received a notice of right-to-sue letter, as well as previously filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Burns is now claiming damages for Palmers alleged interference with ‘prospective economic advantage’, including actual and punitive damages, emotional distress and compensation for her losses.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Dr Palmer for comment.