EUGENE, Ore. — An Oregon man has filed a lawsuit against an IRS agent with whom he had sex, claiming he was coerced into the relationship because the woman showed up at his door “provocatively attired” and threatened him with a tax penalty.
Vincent Burroughs, 40, of Fall Creek, filed the lawsuit last week in federal court in Eugene. The agent, Dora Abrahamson, and the federal government are listed as defendants, and Burroughs wants a jury to award him unspecified punitive damages.
According to the suit, Abrahamson contacted Burroughs about an audit in August 2011. Abrahamson allegedly told Burroughs “she knew who he was, and that it was lucky for him that this was the case, and that they should meet.”
The agent subsequently flirted with Burroughs over the telephone and via text messages, offered him massages and sent him a photo of herself in her underwear, the lawsuit states.
Burroughs initially ignored the woman’s advances, according to the lawsuit, but he surrendered after a “provocatively attired” Abrahamson arrived at his home in September 2011, the lawsuit states.
“She told (Burroughs) that she could be a bitch, or that she could be nice,” the suit states. “She said that she could impose no penalty, or a 40 percent penalty, and that if he would give her what she wanted, she would give him what he needed.”
Burroughs had sex with Abrahamson that day, the suit states.
IRS spokesman Richard Panick said Friday he could not comment on any aspect of the lawsuit, including whether Abrahamson was still employed by the agency.
Abrahamson declined comment when she was contacted Thursday by The Register-Guard newspaper.
The lawsuit claims that Abrahamson’s conduct caused the plaintiff distress and a rift in his relationship with a “significant other.”
The suit alleges that the government is liable for damages because IRS officials provided inadequate supervision.
Burroughs didn’t initially report Abrahamson’s advances “out of embarrassment and fear that she would cause substantial financial penalties to be imposed upon him,” according to the lawsuit.
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