The author Neil Gaiman is seeking more than $500,000 from Caroline Wallner, the potter who accused him of sexual misconduct during the time she lived and worked on his property in Woodstock.

Wallner moved to Gaiman’s property in 2014 when he offered her and her ex-husband, a builder, work as caretakers. The alleged abuse occurred between 2018 and 2020, after Wallner’s marriage had fallen apart and her husband had moved out, leaving Wallner behind to take care of their three children. It was then, Wallner says, that Gaiman began to pressure her for sex in exchange for staying on the property. “‘I like our trade,’” she recalled him saying. “‘You take care of me, and I’ll take care of you.’”

Gaiman denied that he’d abused Wallner and told New York that it was she who had initiated their sexual encounters, but in 2021, Gaiman paid Wallner $275,000 in exchange for signing an extensive nondisclosure agreement that prevents her from suing Gaiman or telling anyone about her alleged experiences with him. Now, Gaiman has filed a demand for arbitration, accusing Wallner of breaching their NDA by sharing her story with the media, including with New York Magazine. In his claim, Gaiman argued that Wallner violated the confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions of their agreement and is requesting a full repayment of their settlement amount, plus attorneys’ fees and $50,000 for each interview she’s given to the media. (Wallner’s ex-husband, who signed the NDA as well, is also named in the claim, shared with New York.)

Vincent White, Wallner’s lawyer, was surprised Gaiman had filed the claim against his client. White, an employment lawyer in New York who specializes in sexual harassment in the workplace, said that in his experience, allegedly abusive men only rarely sued women for violating NDAs because the optics were so poor. When you’re trying to silence someone who’s alleging “really heinous acts,” White said, “everyone thinks, Oh, the allegation must be true. I would think he may have come to the conclusion he has nothing left to lose.”

Last winter, Wallner also filed a claim for arbitration, shared with New York, against Gaiman. She accused him of breaching his end of the NDA, alleging that his lawyer had held onto videos, photos, and text messages she’d sent him during the course of their sexual engagement. The NDA demanded that both she and Gaiman destroy all such materials after signing it. Wallner and Gaiman’s claims against each other will be dealt with in the coming months through arbitration, the process dictated by the NDA they both signed in 2021. In a statement, a spokesperson for Gaiman said, “Caroline Wallner’s purported claims are completely meritless. We have no doubt that we will prevail in arbitration — and that Ms. Wallner’s actions will result in her having to pay Neil’s legal fees.”

Wallner, for her part, has been seeking legal avenues to get her NDA voided, in which case neither Gaiman’s nor Wallner’s claims would have any basis. But White suggested that such a process was an uphill battle. Although in recent years, courts have taken some steps to limit the use of NDAs that cover allegations of sexual misconduct, the laws, for the most part, remain favorable to the enforcement of such NDAs. “These agreements have historically been upheld in most jurisdictions,” said White.

Related

• There Is No Safe Word
• All of Neil Gaiman’s Halted and Canceled Projects
• Neil Gaiman Accused of Human Trafficking, Sexual Abuse in New Lawsuit

 The author says Wallner broke her NDA by sharing her story with the media, including with New York Magazine.