Paula Jones

Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin; September 17, 1966) is an American civil servant.

Jones graduated from a high school in Carlisle, Arkansas, in 1984.

She briefly attended a secretarial school in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Living in Little Rock, she met her husband, Steve Jones, in 1989.

In the initial lawsuit, Jones cited Clinton for sexual harassment at the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas on May 8, 1991.

She worked a number of jobs before joining the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (AIDC) in March 1991.

In a declaration sworn under penalty of felony, Jones alleged that, on May 8, 1991, while working on official business in her capacity as a state employee of the AIDC, she attended the Annual Governor's Quality Conference at the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock.

Jones alleged she was asked by an Arkansas State Police Trooper to report to Arkansas Governor Clinton's hotel room in the Excelsior Hotel (now the Little Rock Marriott), where Clinton propositioned and exposed himself to her.

A former Arkansas state employee, Jones sued United States President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994.

She claimed she kept quiet about the incident until 1994, when a David Brock story in The American Spectator magazine printed an account.

Jones filed a sexual harassment suit against Clinton on May 6, 1994, two days before the expiration of the three-year statute of limitations, and sought $750,000 in damages.

Jones was initially represented by Gilbert Davis and Joseph Cammarata, two Washington, D.C.–area lawyers.

Susan Carpenter-McMillan, a California conservative commentator, became her press spokesperson.

Carpenter-McMillan wasted no time bringing the issue to the press, calling Clinton "un-American", a "liar", and a "philanderer" on Meet the Press, Crossfire, Equal Time, Larry King Live, Today, The Geraldo Rivera Show, Burden of Proof, Hannity & Colmes, Talkback Live, and other shows.

"I do not respect a man who cheats on his wife, and exposes his penis to a stranger," she said.

Judge Susan Webber Wright granted President Clinton's motion for summary judgment, ruling that Jones could not demonstrate that she had suffered any damages.

As to the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, Wright ruled that Jones failed to show that Clinton's actions constituted "outrageous conduct" as required of the tort, alongside not showing proof of damages caused by distress.

Jones appealed the dismissal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where, at oral argument, two of the three judges on the panel appeared sympathetic to her arguments.

Clinton and his defense team then challenged Jones' right to bring a civil lawsuit against a sitting president for an incident that occurred prior to the defendant's becoming president.

The Clinton defense team took the position that the trial should be delayed until the president was no longer in office, because the job of the president is unique and does not allow him to take time away from it to deal with a private civil lawsuit.

The case went through the courts, eventually reaching the Supreme Court.

Following a series of civil suits and appeals through the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals from May 1994 to January 1996, Clinton v. Jones eventually reached the United States Supreme Court on May 27, 1997.

On May 27, 1997, the Court unanimously ruled against Clinton, and allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

Clinton dismissed Jones' story and agreed to move on with the lawsuit.

On August 29, 1997, Jones' attorneys Davis and Cammarata asked to resign from the case, believing the settlement offer they had secured, which Jones refused, was the appropriate way to end the case.

Jones had reportedly told her lawyers she wanted an apology from Clinton, in addition to a settlement.

The case was later settled on November 13, 1998.

But in August 1998, Clinton's relationship with Lewinsky, and compelling evidence that he had lied about it under oath in the Jones suit, was brought to light.

At that point Jones appealed the ruling, and her appeal gained traction following Clinton's admission to having an affair with Lewinsky in August 1998.

On appeal, Clinton agreed to an out-of-court settlement, paying Jones and her lawyers $850,000 to drop the suit.

Clinton's lawyer said that the President made the settlement only so he could end the lawsuit for good and move on with his life.

Jones and her lawyers said that the payment was evidence of Clinton's guilt.

Jones continues to maintain that Clinton sexually harassed her.

Clinton continues to deny it.

Jones was born in Lonoke, Arkansas.

She was the daughter of a minister in the Church of the Nazarene and raised within that congregation.

The Paula Jones case provided the impetus for Independent Counsel Ken Starr to broaden his ongoing investigation into Clinton's pre-presidency financial dealings with the Whitewater Land Company, and resulted in Clinton's impeachment in the House of Representatives and subsequent acquittal by the Senate on February 12, 1999.

Specifically, Clinton was asked under oath about Monica Lewinsky in the Jones suit, denied having ever had sexual relations with her, and was accused of perjury after evidence of sexual contact was exposed.

The Jones lawsuit also led to a landmark legal precedent by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that a sitting U.S. president is not exempt from civil litigation for acts committed outside of public office.

Jones's suit was dismissed as lacking legal merit prior to Clinton's impeachment and the exposure of the Lewinsky affair.