DENTON – A North Texas attorney alleges he was terminated last month from a law firm for which he was investigating claims because of defamatory statements made about him to the State Bar of Texas.
In a lawsuit recently filed in the Denton County 431st District Court, Cross Roads resident Jason Lee Van Dyke claims Thomas Christopher Retzlaff filed a grievance with the Texas Bar late last year which wrongfully labels him a drug addict and a white nationalist.
Van Dyke states that Retzlaff, who is reportedly a convicted felon and a “vexatious litigant,” falsely claimed that the former threatened his life and those of his family after he lost his job with the Victoria County District Attorney’s Office.
Court papers say Van Dyke is not suing the defendant for filing the grievance, but the allegations laid out in the complaint.
The suit further asserts that Retzlaff “controls a Web site that has been responsible for tortious conduct against Van Dyke.” Known as “BV Files,” the site purportedly contained statements alleging the plaintiff has a criminal record for abusing women and has committed professional misconduct against Retzlaff.”
Retzlaff is additionally accused of doxing the address of Van Dyke’s now-former employer, Karlseng, LeBlanc & Rich, as well as emailing its principals with disparaging remarks about the plaintiff.
KLR fired Van Dyke on Mar. 27.
Consequently, the plaintiff seeks approximately $100 million in addition to a temporary restraining order against the defendant.
Van Dyke is representing himself.
Denton County 431st District Court Case No. 18-2793-431