The Jackson Laboratory has denied allegations from a former employee that a lab coworker sexually harassed her and that she reported the ongoing harassment to two supervisors.
The denials come after the former employee filed a federal lawsuit in May claiming that the lab did not do enough to address her concerns of sexual harassment.
The coworker, Brandon Lyons, has since been criminally charged in Hancock County after he allegedly planted a camera in a bathroom stall at the Bar Harbor laboratory, known as JAX.
The Bangor Daily News is not identifying the former employee who filed the suit because she is the alleged victim of sexual harassment.
The former employee, who was a lab animal technician for just over two years, said she reported Lyons’ inappropriate comments to two separate supervisors roughly 10 to 12 times, one of which was submitted in writing, according to the initial complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor.
The remarks ranged from crude commentary on the employee’s body to offensive statements about how she earned a promotion, court records stated.
The lab denies the employee reported the comments, or that Lyons was sexually harassing her in the first place, according to the lab’s response filed in early July.
“If [the] plaintiff suffered any damages as a result of the alleged claims, which [the] defendant denies, [the] plaintiff failed to mitigate her damages,” the response says. “[The] defendant took reasonable care to prevent or correct any allegedly discriminatory conduct, and [the] plaintiff failed to take advantage of corrective opportunities provided or otherwise to avoid harm.”
The lab’s response to the complaint cites the doctrine of unclean hands, which refers to a legal rule that limits a party from seeking relief if they’ve acted fraudulently. The filing also indicates the lab has “after-acquired evidence of [the] plaintiff’s misconduct, for which she would have been terminated.”
The nature of the former employee’s misconduct was not specified in the court filing.
James Clifford, an attorney for the former employee, declined to comment on the pending lawsuit when contacted by the Bangor Daily News on Thursday. The Portland-based lawyer noted the lab’s response was a “very standard answer.”
“Because this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment on the specific allegations or proceedings at this time,” a lab spokesperson said. “JAX takes reports of harassment seriously and remains committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for all employees.”
Just under a year after the employee first reported Lyons — who was also an animal technician — to her supervisors, he allegedly placed a hidden video camera in a single-stall bathroom she often used. Four people were unknowingly recorded in the hour and half before the device was discovered on May 20, 2025.
Police later found two more days of video footage from the week before the camera was discovered, during which time Lyons had filmed four additional lab employees.
Lyons, 31, was indicted in December by a Hancock County grand jury on 10 charges, including stalking and seven counts of violation of privacy. He also faces charges of drug possession and child endangerment after a search warrant revealed drugs and firearms were housed near his 4-year-old daughter, according to court documents.
In mid-March, Lyons was found temporarily incompetent to stand trial and committed to state custody for psychiatric treatment. On Monday, that decision was reversed and he was deemed competent to stand trial, according to Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger.
Will Ashe, an attorney for Lyons, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.