A soap opera-worthy love affair was unfolding inside an unassuming dental office in a quaint Maine town, according to an explosive lawsuit.
Dr. Aaron Palmer allegedly carried on an affair with dental assistant Lucina “Terra” Burns, 37, for a decade before dumping and firing her after his wife found out about the torrid fling, a federal complaint obtained by The Post showed.
“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,” the complaint states.
Palmer and Burns’ secret relationship began in 2013, the suit claims, one year into the dental assistant’s career at Palmer’s Smile Design Ellsworth, P.C., practice.
The dentist allegedly initiated the affair by discretely touching her as she worked in the office — including instances when the pair were conducting patient procedures — until he escalated the relationship one day when the two were the only staff on schedule.
“They had only one patient that morning. After Dr. Palmer completed the procedure, he immediately kissed Burns and they ended up having sex on the basement floor,” the complaint states.
Burns, who was also married at the time, was immediately racked with guilt, but continued the on-and-off affair with her boss through the next decade.
She claimed Palmer tried to appease her through gifts, including a $5,000 American Express credit card and a cushy job at his second practice that only required her to show up a handful of times a month for a $2,000 weekly stipend.
Despite showering Burns in compliments and reassurance, Palmer allegedly refused to pay his mistress — or his other employees — the overtime they were required to work on a weekly basis, which one employee calculated to be worth as much as $50,000 per year.
The dentist seemingly had other issues with employees in the office, with Burns claiming he offered one an antique car to resolve payment issues and suddenly fired two other women in the span of two weeks.
Burns said in the 29-page complaint that her husband discovered the affair in October 2022 and — despite having his own history of extramarital affairs — demanded a divorce.
Desperate to stop the scorned husband from snitching to Palmer’s wife, the dentist allegedly offered tens of thousands of dollars and a car to the couple if the Burns agreed to keep quiet and allow Burns to continue working at his practice.
Palmer’s wife seemingly discovered the relationship on her own, however, after Burns “accidentally left her toothbrush and toothpaste” in his car after one of their rendezvous.
“Dr. Palmer called out the rest of the week and Burns continued to go to work. She did not hear from him until Saturday, January 21, 2023, when he sent an email firing Burns,” the complaint states.
He offered to pay her for eight more weeks, but failed to pay the final $2,000 or the years of overtime she racked up, the suit claims.
Burns was also forced to find another job at half the salary she had been earning, a devastating blow for her new position as a single mother.
Palmer has since sold his Smile Design practice to a different dentist, but still owns and operates a second location. Messages left by The Post at numbers listed for Palmer were not returned.
The 11-count civil suit filed in federal court in the US District of Maine accuses Palmer of gender discrimination, creating a hostile work environment, sexual harassment and violating the Maine Human Rights Act by retaliating against her seeks unspecified monetary damages.
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