HOUSTON – A lawsuit accusing Duc Dinh, a well-known member of the Vietnamese community, of rape has been abated while litigation Dinh brought prior to his accuser’s lawsuit finishes playing out.
Back in July, a woman, identified only as Jane Doe in her suit, sued Dinh and Duc Dinh International in Harris County District Court, seeking more than $1 million in damages.
The suit claims that on Nov. 3, 2018, Dinh invited Doe, who was 19 at the time and a former student at Dinh’s Learning Center, to go bar hopping. He then took her back to a hotel and allegedly raped her.
However, Dinh’s lawsuit, which was filed nearly a year ago in October 2020, paints a very different picture.
In his suit, Dinh alleges that he and Gina Nguyen had consensual sexual relations but that her cousin, Karan Dang, had sent Nguyen a text indicating that she was going to call the police. The police did arrive at the hotel after Dinh and Nguyen had sex and interviewed them both. Police did not see anything illegal about the encounter.
In June 2020, Nguyen began a social media campaign against Dinh and started posting lies about him, according to the suit.
In turn, Dinh sued Nguyen. Nine months later, Nguyen returned the favor and on Aug. 20 the trial court granted Dinh’s motion to abate her lawsuit, court records show.
In his motion, Dinh asked the court to abate the case pending final disposition of his lawsuit.
“Duc Dinh sued Gina Nguyen after she posted false statements on social media identifying him by name as the person who sexually assaulted her on November 3, 2018,” the motion states. “Nguyen moved to dismiss the case, but … (the court) found that Dinh had presented clear and specific evidence that Nguyen’s rape accusations were false.
“Dissatisfied with the result, Nguyen filed this lawsuit seeking damages based entirely on her allegation that Dinh sexually assaulted her…”
Doe is represented by Andrew Dao and Ajay Ketkar of Daly & Black, and Megan Daic of Daic Law.
Houston attorneys Dean Blumrosen and Andrew Bender represent Dinh.
Cause No. 2021-42867