A judge dismissed a case against Tim Ballard, the founder and former CEO of Operation Underground Railroad, an anti-human sex trafficking organization, in a case brought against him and OUR in 2023 by his former assistant, Celeste Borys, and her husband, Mike Borys.
Ballard won on procedural grounds after a Utah district court judge ruled Monday that the key evidence had been improperly obtained, ultimately dropping the case against both Ballard and OUR. The ruling did not address the underlying claims of sexual misconduct or how organization leadership may have enabled the alleged inappropriate behavior.
“Shortly after Mr. Ballard was given notice of this lawsuit, we became suspicious that someone had hacked into his private email and his Google Drive and stolen his documents and his private email communications,” Alexis Federico, one of Ballard’s attorneys, told reporters during a news conference.
After Borys parted ways with OUR, she accessed Ballard’s email to obtain information that was used as evidence in court by her legal counsel,the judge’s order stated. Borys’ method of obtaining the information in court was deemed improper and so was thrown out, the judge concluded.
“Practically speaking, what Ms. Borys did is no different than if she had used a key to access Mr. Ballard’s office in the dark of night to secretly photocopy documents from locked file drawers, including documents that were marked as privileged. The wrongful nature of that conduct should have been obvious to anyone, including importantly her lawyers,” 3rd District Court Judge Todd Shaughnessy said in his order, obtained by the Deseret News.
“Based on the foregoing, and for good cause, the court orders all of Ms. Borys’s claims against all named defendants dismissed with prejudice,” the judge added. “The court agrees that OUR and Mr. Ballard have been prejudiced by plaintiffs circumventing the rules.”
The Deseret News reached out to both Borys’ legal counsel and OUR for comment.
It is not known yet if Borys’ attorneys will appeal the decision. Her husband’s claims of fraud and emotional distress in the case were greenlit to proceed by the judge, but she cannot refile the same claims in court because Shaughnessy dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice.
Ballard has denied any wrongdoing in any of the legal suits against him, and has filed defamation cases against other women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
With Borys’ lawsuit dismissed, it is unclear how it will affect a separate sexual misconduct case brought against Ballard by five Utah women. According to Fox 13, some of the same evidence is being used in that case.
Ballard’s attorneys said they look forward to arguing their client’s cases.