Glen and Danielle Rollins
Perhaps the juiciest divorce case in the country is unfolding in Atlanta, and it involves one of the wealthiest families in the South--or any other region. Best we can tell, the case presents no major legal issues, but it does involve allegations of rampant misconduct against a husband who apparently suffers from a sex addiction. And, by golly, that's enough to get our attention, especially since we've written dozens of posts about the family involved.
We're talking about the divorce of Danielle Rollins--socialite, writer, and multimedia personality--from Glen Rollins, former president of Orkin Pest Control.
If those names sound familiar, it's because they are related to Ted Rollins, a central figure in the monstrous courtroom cheat job styled Rollins v. Rollins here in Alabama. In terms of legal significance, the ongoing Atlanta case almost certainly pales in comparison to the case that unfolded in my neck of the woods, Shelby County, Alabama. Danielle Rollins probably has competent attorneys and a semi-ethical judge, so she isn't likely to get screwed over by the Rollins family machine. Sherry Carroll Rollins, on the other hand, had spineless attorneys (MaryLee Abele, Conrad Fowler, etc.) and a wildly corrupt judge (D. Al Crowson), so she and her daughters took a legal thrashing.
So why is the story of Danielle v. Glen Rollins capturing public attention, including a recent item at The Daily titled "Getting rid of a pest: Wife of Orkin heir in contentious divorce with alleged sex addict hubby"? The answer probably lies in the last three words of the headline. Danielle Rollins alleges that her husband suffers from a sex addiction--and angles in divorce cases don't get much more titillating than that.
According to published reports, Glen Rollins has sought treatment, apparently without much success, at the same Mississippi sex-addiction clinic that treated golf star Tiger Woods. That means the Rollins story surely is headed for the front pages of The Globe any day now. Here's how The Daily dives into the story:
High society in Atlanta is bracing for the high-profile divorce of Glen Rollins, an Orkin Pest Control heir — whose estranged wife claims he is an abusive sex addict.
Danielle Rollins, who has three children with Glen, declined to talk to The Daily, but she told a Georgia judge in a court hearing last May that their $7 million house was nearly foreclosed on, and she has been unable to pay her bills, which average $286,000 a month.
“I was incredibly betrayed by Glen with the infidelity. The financial misleadings were even more devastating to me,” Danielle testified. “We had three mortgages on the house that I didn’t know we had.”
The case is still in the discovery phase and no trial date has been set.
You need a scorecard to keep up with all of the Rollinses, so we will lay it out for you this way:
* Brothers R. Randall and Gary Rollins are the chairman and CEO/president, respectively, of Rollins Inc., the umbrella company of Orkin and other profitable enterprises. Published reports indicate each of the Rollins brothers has a net worth of more than $1 billion;
* Glen Rollins is Gary Rollins' son, and Glen was the head of Orkin until he was fired in September 2010 after he and his siblings filed a lawsuit against their father, their uncle, and various business associates, alleging mismanagement of trust accounts.
Boxwood mansion
* Danielle Rollins married Glen Rollins in 1995, and they have three children. Their mansion, called Boxwood, has hosted some of Atlanta's finest parties. The Peak of Chic blog provides an inside glimpse of one lavish Boxwood event from 2010. Danielle Rollins is the author of Soiree: Entertaining With Style, a contributing editor at Veranda magazine, and a major presence in multimedia circles.* Ted Rollins is a cousin to Randall and Gary Rollins. In fact, Ted and Randall have done business together, starting a real-estate development company called St. James Capital that mysteriously disappeared when the Rollins v. Rollins divorce case unlawfully shifted from Greenville, South Carolina, (where the family lived, where Sherry Rollins filed for divorce, where the case was litigated for three years) to Shelby County, Alabama.
What might be coming next in the Danielle and Glen Rollins divorce case? It could involve some fascinating twists and turns. The Daily sets the stage:
[Glen] Rollins, who was the CEO of Orkin until he and his siblings sued their father in 2010 to get more money out of the family trusts, earned $19.9 million in 2011, and $13.7 million the year before. But he has been treated at two different sex-addiction facilities, including Pine Grove in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where Tiger Woods was a patient.
When the divorce finally does go to trial, Danielle is set to testify she first learned of Glen’s sexual addiction when she was pregnant with their youngest son, who is 10 now. “At the time she blamed herself. She thought she had problems with intimacy,” a friend said.
Glen’s lawyer R. Scott Berryman told The Daily, “It’s a private matter. I don’t have anything to say.”
It's hard to beat a good story about sex addiction. But for real ugliness in the courtroom, it's almost impossible to top the Rollins v. Rollins case here in Alabama. After all, Birmingham resident Sherry Rollins and her daughters, Sarah and Emma, wound up on food stamps because of Ted Rollins' deceitful actions in court.
I doubt that Danielle Rollins and her children will be going hungry anytime soon.