What would you do? You are minding your own business, and
out of the blue you get a call from someone who claims she is from IRS, that
you are being audited, and that lucky for you your case has been assigned to
her. Lucky because she knows all about you and wants to get together…
You’d probably ignore her. This is what Vincent Burroughs
did, for a while anyway. Problem was he was being audited and she was the agent
assigned. The audit ultimately didn’t go very well, and he owed money. However,
he alleges that as the audit progressed, he was subjected to persistent
sexually suggestive remarks, overtures & texts. She even texted a picture
of her to him in her underwear doing... well never mind.
Finally the agent showed up at his house dressed provocatively
and threatened him with substantial financial penalties if he did not “give her
what she wanted”, which by the way, was not financial information. Mr.
Burroughs gave in and was allegedly forced to submit to the IRS agent
physically, against his wishes.
Now he is suing IRS for damages, claiming among other things
that he suffered anguish, humiliation, mental distress, depression, loss of
income, and loss of trust in governmental authority. His case is pending.
My thoughts: All of the things he allegedly suffered are typical
in an IRS exam anyway, with the possible exception of humiliation. And who knows, maybe that was a function of
their meeting at his house. (If I were him I’d probably leave that part out.)
Beyond that I’d say his damages were typical and hardly worth a lawsuit. Besides,
he can now legitimately claim IRS has screwed him, and besides the obvious
benefit, he now has bragging rights.
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