SALT LAKE CITY — One of the five lawsuits against Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad has been dismissed.
Bree Righter is a licensed clinical social worker and former Marine who accused Ballard of refusing to call an ambulance after she was injured during a training exercise at the OUR gym in Draper.
She accidentally took a knee to the face, smashing her eye socket.
"I have no peripheral vision," Righter said. "It is all double vision, and I will live with this for the rest of my life."
Two witnesses, who worked with Ballard, disputed her version of the story.
Judge Kristine Johnson dismissed the lawsuit because Righter signed a waiver before participating in the training, which voluntarily releases the organization from liability "for any injury or damages, up to and including death."
Righter is also suing a man named Matthew Cooper for fraud, negligence, and sexual assault.
She is one of seven plaintiffs who say Ballard invented a technique called the "couple ruse" that relied on potential partners developing "sexual chemistry" with each other before they went on undercover missions.
Cooper is one of Ballard's friends and employees. The case is ongoing.
"Ballard attempted to goad Defendant Cooper to be more sexually aggressive in the COUPLES RUSE with (Righter) which led to (Righter) being sexually touched by Defendant Cooper under false pretense both at the lavish resort and while going to strip clubs and massage parlors in the British Virgin Islands," according to the complaint.
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Ballard continues to face four other civil lawsuits.
This week, two of the women accusing Ballard of sexual assault filed requests for a protective order.
Celeste Borys and Kira Lynch say Ballard tricked them into acting out sexual situations – claiming it was all part of an undercover technique to save trafficked children.
Lynch said Ballard undressed her and assaulted her while she begged him to stop.
Borys and Lynch have also reported their cases to police.
Multiple criminal investigations are ongoing.
