Vanessa Reiser, a licensed therapist, claims she's being harassed by an 'undercover covert patient.'
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice's husband, Louie Ruelas, has been slapped with a temporary restraining order filed by his ex-fiancée, who claims he orchestrated a harassment campaign with an "undercover covert patient" at her place of employment, where she's a licensed therapist.
According to court records, the temporary restraining order was filed on May 26 in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Monmouth County. Attorney Douglas C. Anton, who represents Vanessa Reiser, tells ET that the TRO filing is considered confidential and not available to the public.
Anton further claims to ET that Ruelas hired Richard "Bo" Dietl's private
investigation company "to place an 'undercover covert' using a fake name 'to stalk, harass and otherwise appear as a 'patient' of my client under false pretenses all in an effort to secretly, covertly, either 1. communicate Mr. Ruelas' interest in my client, 2. intimidate my client through third parties just to let her know that 'he is always watching or in control,' or 3. to gather some other kind of information that Mr. Ruelas seeks to use for a legal or not legal reason."
ET has reached out to Dietl and Ruelas for comment.
What's more, Anton claims that this "undercover covert" is a female employee of Dietl's. According to Anton, "all three possibilities raise concerns and scare my client who thought she got this guy out of her life for good years ago."
Anton continues, "The manner in which he went about fraudulently invading her profession raises the level of fear in that, even with prior Civil Restraint Orders/ Agreements in place that codify that they are mutually not to have this type of conduct to or against each other, he seemingly acts with contempt of same. This has got to stop."
Reiser's bio lists her as "a mother, 2X Ironman, & therapist specializing in narcissistic abuse." According to Us Weekly, who first broke the news, Ruelas and Reiser last had contact in 2021. Giudice and Ruelas tied the knot in August 2022.
Anton tells ET that Reiser was forced to protect herself and contacted the police, who then put her on the phone with a judge. After hearing her side, Anton says the judge entered a TRO "to protect her until the matter can be heard" at a later hearing.
"If Mr. Ruelas is a 'man’s man' as I believe him to be, he will fall on his own sword, save his friend’s reputation as a private investigator, protect this young female employee from having her credibility destroyed or going to jail and admit he did this, give a legal, non-harassing reason why and have his lawyer communicate that to my office," Anton tells ET. "I will then discuss it with my client and if it is reasonable, and she feels comfortable enough with the reason to allay her fears from this harassment and intimidation, even if she does not like that he did it, I will recommend that she dismiss the TRO and this matter can conclude peacefully for all parties with the understanding that he never do anything like this to my client again."
Reiser's filing comes just three days after Bravo aired its drama-filled wedding day special, The Real Housewives of New Jersey: Teresa Gets Married. That day was filled with drama compounded by the fact that Giudice's brother, Joe Gorga, and his wife, Melissa Gorga, decided to skip the wedding.
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