Another American Equity Mortgage lawsuit works through St. Louis

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Sep 12, 2006 by Allison Retka

In yet another legal outshoot of the Vinson v. Vinson divorce proceedings in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Deanna Daughhetee's company, American Equity Mortgage, is suing a former marketing executive for bringing "confidential information" to a new position with a Phoenix mortgage company.

The former executive, Kimberly Winslow, fired back in May with a counterclaim that portrays AEM's West County offices as roiled with drama, armed security guards and constant surveillance while Ray and Deanna Vinson pursued their divorce case from 2005 to 2006.

Winslow also claims security guards hired by Daughhetee continue to monitor her home and workplace in Arizona.

On Aug. 29, Judge Colleen Dolan ruled that Winslow can continue her counterclaim against Daughhetee and her mortgage company despite several motions from the business to dismiss the claims.

According to court documents, Winslow started working for the mortgage company in 1996 and was promoted to vice president of marketing and sales in 2002.

Daughhetee's company filed claims alleging that when Winslow resigned from American Equity Mortgage, she took confidential information to a new position at First Option Mortgage in Phoenix.

Winslow's suit denied she was privy to confidential information and added an affirmative defense: She left the company due to a "hostile, offensive and threatening work environment."

During the divorce, Daughhetee forced American Equity Mortgage employees to take sides in the dispute, Winslow's suit claims, and frequently told employees that "if they were unhappy with their employment or not 'on her side,' then they could leave."

Employees were later barred from speaking to Vinson, and Winslow was once asked by attorneys for American Equity Mortgage if they could tape record her conversations with Vinson, the suit said.

The suit said personal security guards hired by Daughhetee during the divorce attended a Christmas party at AEM headquarters and posed for photographs with their guns bared.

Other employees left American Equity Mortgage for similar reasons, the suit claims, but the company did not prevent them from seeking jobs at similar businesses.

Further, Winslow claims Daughhetee has kept her under surveillance since she left St. Louis. As late as April, Winslow claims she saw security guards trolling the areas around her home and office. She recognized these guards as those employed by American Equity Mortgage.

In addition to her counterclaim, Winslow also entered a tortuous intrusion claim that said Daughhetee tapped Winslow's cell phone and accessed her Internet phone records while she worked for American Equity.

In early June, attorneys for Daughhetee and her company filed motions to dismiss Winslow's counterclaim. These filings accused Winslow of backing up her claims with salacious details about the highly publicized Vinson divorce, none of which had anything to do with her employment at American Equity.

"Why it was necessary to include these types of allegations in a counterclaim defies logic or explanation, unless Winslow is simply attempting to publicly discredit her former employer," the motion said.

The motion further states that all of Winslow's claims about the intolerable working conditions at American Equity are riddled with "redundant and immaterial" allegations.

Attorneys from both sides met Aug. 8 to argue Daughhetee's motion to dismiss. Dolan denied the motion Aug. 29.

Jennifer Behm with Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, an attorney for Winslow, did not return calls for comment, nor did Thompson Coburn attorney Kimberly Yates, who filed claims for Daughhetee and American Equity Mortgage.