Last week, we told you that Terry L. Fleming scored a legal victory when a judge dismissed a civil lawsuit that accused him of human trafficking and sexually exploiting younger women.
Well, since then, Fleming, the founder of Little Rock’s PerfectVision Manufacturing, one of Arkansas’ largest private companies, asked that a case he filed against a woman be dismissed.
In that case, Fleming sued Kaylee Cathcart in Pulaski County Circuit Court and accused her of exploiting him. Cathcart, of Pulaski County, filed a counterclaim against Fleming with accusations that included human trafficking.
“Terry Fleming and Kaylee Cathcart were boyfriend/girlfriend for years and were even engaged for a time,” Fleming’s attorney, Timothy A. Steadman of Holleman & Associates, wrote in an email to Whispers.
“They broke up, and they both sued each other. Although we think that Mr. Fleming’s claims against Ms. Cathcart have legal merit, we also think that this dispute is not worthy of the Court’s time, just like Ms. Cathcart’s baseless claims against Mr. Fleming.”
He said the dispute brings to mind the old Southern saying of “never wallow with a pig in the mud because you both get dirty and the pig likes it.”
“Mr. Fleming has done his part and voluntarily dismissed his claims,” Steadman said. “Ms. Cathcart should do the same, as should the other women that she recruited to bring baseless, meritless claims, some of which have already been dismissed.”
Cathcart’s attorney, Luther Sutter of Sutter & Gillham of Benton, told Whispers in an email that Fleming’s lawsuit was frivolous.
“This lawsuit was filed simply to intimidate my client,” Sutter wrote. “Mr. Fleming refuses to appear for his deposition because he knows justice will eventually prevail. My firm will continue to represent the working people of Arkansas, even when it makes rich folks and their lawyers mad.”
Meanwhile, another case filed against Fleming was dismissed last week. Brittany Risser of North Little Rock, through her attorney, Gene A. Ludwig, asked that her case be voluntarily dismissed. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Patricia James agreed. Risser still could refile her case within a year.
Earlier this month, James dismissed a case filed by Rabekah Fendley of Conway against Fleming and other defendants. James said in her order that Fendley “is not a victim of human trafficking, as envisioned by the Human Trafficking Act of 2013.”
Two other cases against Fleming were pending as of Thursday. In March, Pulaski County Judge Tim Fox denied a motion to dismiss a case against Fleming and other defendants brought by Corissa Withrow of Pulaski County and represented by Withrow. That case is pending.
Ludwig also is representing another woman in a case against Fleming in Pulaski County Circuit Court. A motion to dismiss is pending in that suit, where the plaintiff is listed as “Jane Doe.”
Fleming and the other defendants expect to see the pending cases dismissed.