The nanny that actor Rob Lowe and his wife have sued for purportedly
violating a confidentiality agreement has filed her own lawsuit against the
couple, alleging sexual harassment.
Jessica Gibson, the 24-year-old nanny that actor Rob Lowe
and his wife sued last week along with two other former employees for allegedly
violating confidentiality agreements, defamation and infliction of emotional
distress, has filed her own lawsuit against the couple, reports Reuters.
Gibson’s lawsuit was filed in Santa Barbara County Superior
Court on Tuesday and alleges that the 44-year-old actor repeatedly exposed
himself and touched her inappropriately several times between September 2005
and January 2008.
Gibson began working for the couple when she was 17 and quit
unexpectedly in late February.
Asked on NBC’s talk show “Today” why she stayed all those
years with the Lowe family if she was being abused, the woman answered, “I
loved the children. I needed the job. I always thought it would get better. And
I was scared.”
Lowe and his wife Sheryl, a Hollywood
make-up artist, have two sons aged 13 and 14.
Lowe’s lawsuit against Gibson, filed in Los Angeles Superior
Court, also said she had demanded $1.5 million to remain silent about the abuse
allegation, which his lawyer, Larry Stein, declared “outrageous” and “untrue.”
Gibson’s lawsuit seeks $50,000 in general damages as well as
unspecified punitive damages and unpaid wages for Gibson, who was paid $18 an
hour by the Lowes, according to Reuters.
Stein said Gibson never indicated she had a problem working
for the Lowes during those seven years and that she even left two times, to
pursue other jobs, and returned of her own free will.
The nanny’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, told the Associated Press
in e-mails on Tuesday that there was no police investigation regarding her
client’s claims, as Gibson had not filed a complaint.
Last week, Lowe posted a message on the Huffington Post
website, saying that his former nanny had attempted extortion, asking him and
his wife for $1.5 million under the threat that she would accuse them both of
“a vicious laundry list of false terribles.”
“My family is devastated at this betrayal,” the actor wrote.
“We will defend ourselves with vigour and without fear.”
