Soap opera-worthy love affair unfolds with Maine dentist, his assistant: explosive suit

A soap opera-worthy love affair was unfolding inside an unassuming dental office in a quaint Maine town, according to an explosive lawsuit.Dr.Aaron Palmer allegedly carried on an affair with dental assistant Lucina “Terra” Burns, 37, for a decade before dumping and firing her after his wife found out about the torrid fling, a federal complaint obtained by The Post showed.“Even though the sexual relationship between Burns and Dr.

Palmer was consensual, he conditioned the terms and privileges of her employment on sex and made her uncomfortable about leaving her job and/or ending their affair on multiple occasions for years before firing her,” the complaint states.Palmer and Burns’ secret relationship began in 2013, the suit claims, one year into the dental assistant’s career at Palmer’s Smile Design Ellsworth, P.C., practice.The dentist allegedly initiated the affair by discretely touching her as she worked in the office — including instances when the pair were conducting patient procedures — until he escalated the relationship one day when the two were the only staff on schedule.“They had only one patient that morning.After Dr.

Palmer completed the procedure, he immediately kissed Burns and they ended up having sex on the basement floor,” the complaint states.Burns, who was also married at the time, was immediately racked with guilt, but continued the on-and-off affair with her boss through the next decade.She claimed Palmer tried to appease her through gifts, including a $5,000 American Express credit card and a cushy job at his second practice that only required her to show up a handful of times a month for a $2,000 weekly stipend.Despite showering Burns in compliments and reassurance, Palmer allegedly refused to pay his mistress — or his other employees — the overtime they were required to work on a weekly basis, which one employee calculated to be worth as much as $50,000 per year.The dentist seemingly had other issues with employees i...