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The longtime attorney for the N.C. Democratic Party will be named as a defendant in the defamation lawsuit brought against the party and its chairman by a former staffer who claimed he was sexually harassed.

John Wallace and his law firm will be sued in their capacity as agents for the Democratic Party after attorneys for ex-employee Adriadn Ortega, reviewing extensive documents provided in the lawsuit, discovered communications between Wallace and the news media, Kieran Shanahan, an attorney for Ortega, said in court Tuesday.

Jay Parmley, who resigned as executive director of the N.C. Democratic Party in April after a staffer accused him of sexual harassment, is entitled to unemployment benefits, an appeals referee for the state Employment Security Commission has ruled.

Parmley’s resignation was forced, which amounted to a discharge, and was “solely due to political reasons” and not for misconduct or poor job performance, referee Mia Bass ruled Monday.

An attorney for a former state Democratic Party staffer wants to depose Chairman David Parker on Sept. 5 -- in the middle of the national party convention in Charlotte.

Parker's attorney filed a motion earlier this week to quash the deposition, suggesting it is "politically motivated."

"The scheduling of a deposition in the middle of the Democratic National Convention will cause harassment, annoyance, oppression and undue burden or expense upon Parker," the motion states.

Adriadn Ortega, the junior staffer who sued Parker and the party for defamation in relation to sexual harassment charges he made earlier this year, is represented by Kieran Shanahan, a top GOP fundraiser who also works as a spokesman for the state Republican Party.

A Wake County judge on Wednesday denied a request for a preliminary injunction against the state Democratic Party filed by a former staffer.

Adriadn Ortega filed the injunction request in June as part of his defamation lawsuit against the party and Chairman David Parker. Ortega alleges he was fired in retaliation for making sexual harassment complaints against his boss, Jay Parmley, the party's executive director, and the party violated a nondisclosure agreement and disparaged him.

His attorney, Kieran Shanahan, a prominent Republican who serves as a state GOP spokesman, said Ortega is concerned the party won't abide by the confidential agreement going forward nor make forthcoming financial payments as prescribed in the settlement. He also worried that the campaign season and upcoming Democratic convention in Charlotte will call attention to the case and prompt comments about Ortega.

A former state Democratic Party staffer's request for an injunction against his former employer is set for a hearing this week in Wake County.

Adriadn Ortega filed a defamation lawsuit in June against the party and its Chairman David Parker alleging he was fired after he reported being sexually harassed by his boss, Jay Parmley, the party's former executive director.

The injunction request, which is part of the lawsuit, seeks to keep the party from additional disparaging comments against Ortega, said Kieran Shanahan, his attorney. The initial hearing scheduled for Monday was delayed until Wednesday afternoon.

Shanahan, a high-profile Republican attorney who also is a spokesman for the state GOP, said Parker and the party have not made any public comments about his client. But he said the defendants filed allegations in court papers that Ortega leaked documents related to his case, which broke the confidentiality agreement.

An attorney for a former state Democratic Party staffer is considering a lawsuit against the party and its controversial chairman as the fallout continues from an alleged sexual harassment scandal.

Kieran Shanahan, a high-profile Raleigh attorney, sent a letter to Chairman David Parker on Tuesday asking him to preserve all records related to Adriadn Ortega's employment and complaints of sexual harassment from former Executive Director Jay Parmley. The notice is often a precursor to a lawsuit. 

"Sometimes someone thinks certain information hurts them and they begin to destroy it," said Shanahan in an interview Wednesday, explaining the letter.

Shanahan said he anticipates filing a legal action contending that Parker made defamatory comments about Ortega and the party violated a confidentiality and nondisparagement agreement as part of a financial settlement in which the party paid Ortega roughly $10,000 to end a federal discrimination complaint about sexual harassment. 

The N.C. Democratic Party made a $9,135 transfer on March 19 to its secretive legal fund as part of a partial financial settlement with a former staffer who alleged he was sexually harassed, new documents indicate.

John Wallace, the party's attorney, confirms that the legal defense fund -- never acknowledged until the controversy exploded at Democratic headquarters in April-- is the source of the payment, according to a letter sent Friday to the state Board of Elections.

Answering a complaint filed by the conservative Civitas Institute about the financial settlement, Wallace wrote that the party "made a transfer to the NCDP Legal Fund from which the primary obligation arising from the settlement was paid." Wallace further writes that two other transfers were made from the party's state account to cover a "related tax obligation" and "certain expenses associated with benefit obligations."

Embattled N.C. Democratic Party Chairman David Parker has called a news conference for 1 p.m. today at the party headquarters in Raleigh.