Bauer is suing the woman who accused him of assault

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer filed a lawsuit Monday against the San Diego woman who accused him of sexual assault, alleging defamation and tortious interference while seeking unspecified monetary and punitive damages.

In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Bauer’s attorneys say the woman “fabricated sexual assault allegations”, “pursued false criminal and civil actions”, “did false and malicious statements” and “generated a media blitz based on her lies” in an effort to “destroy” Bauer’s reputation, “bring attention to herself” and “extract millions of dollars”.

In a motion seeking a domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) that was filed June 29, 2021, the woman — who ESPN decided not to name — said Bauer took consensual rough sex too far during of two encounters at his Pasadena, California, home in April and May 2021, alleging that he repeatedly choked her unconscious, sodomized her without her consent, and punched her all over her body, leaving with injuries that had required medical attention.

Bauer and his attorneys have strongly denied the charges, calling them “fraudulent” and “baseless”.

The woman was denied a permanent restraining order following a four-day hearing in August, and six months later, in February 2022, the LA County District Attorney’s Office decided not to prosecute Bauer. But Major League Baseball, which has the autonomy to suspend players for “just cause” under its domestic violence policy, is still investigating Bauer, who recently had his administrative leave extended to Friday.

In the lawsuit, Bauer’s attorneys deny having had anal sex with the woman, punching her in the face, stomach or vagina, or scratching her on the cheek or back, as said the woman.

“At all times during both sexual encounters,” the suit reads, “Mr. Bauer adhered to established and agreed-upon boundaries with [the woman].”

The lawsuit says the woman, who was 27 at the time, continued to pursue Bauer after the first encounter in an effort to lure him into “a rougher sexual experience so that she could later claim that this experience sex was not what she asked for and thus laying the groundwork for a financial settlement.”

The lawsuit also references text messages the woman sent to friends in which she apparently bragged about a potential payout, while noting inconsistent statements in her testimony at the DVRO hearing, claiming that photos of her injuries had been altered and alleging that she “deliberately” deleted the phone. recordings during the process.

The woman, who provided photographs and medical records as part of her DVRO statement, said she woke up the morning after the second sex with two black eyes, a swollen jaw and cheekbones, scratches dark red on the right side of her face, gum bruises, a bump on the side of her head, a split upper lip, black bruises on the top of her vagina, and multiple bruises on her right buttock. The woman admitted consenting to being choked unconscious.

The lawsuit says the woman instigated rough sex, citing a text message sent between their first and second encounter. In the text message, which became a central part of the August hearing, the woman urged Bauer to “give all the pain.”

The suit also says the woman “had no visible marks or bruises on her face or body except for a slightly swollen lip” as she left Bauer’s house after the second encounter on May 16.

The lawsuit also charges one of the woman’s attorneys, Fred Thiagarajah, with defamation after he told the Washington Post following the district attorney’s denial that Bauer “just brutalized” the woman and that the conduct she alleged has been established with “100% certainty.

Over the past two months, as MLB continued its investigation, Bauer’s attorneys filed defamation lawsuits against two media companies, alleging that Deadspin knowingly published false information in its coverage of the sexual assault allegations and that The Athletic had carried out “a campaign to maliciously target and harass”. Bauer.

Bauer’s attorneys also subpoenaed the Pasadena Police Department over the San Diego woman’s missing phone records, writing in a court filing that “the requested documents will further reveal the plaintiff’s plan to ruin the reputation and career.” respondent and earn a large salary by making false and misleading statements. allegations in his petition. »

But in a hearing on April 4, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman — who dissolved the temporary restraining order against Bauer in August — ruled the pitcher would not be unaware of the woman’s phone records, stating that her attorneys failed to file the proper motion and that the judge would nonetheless have been skeptical of an argument that the records would help them show that the woman misled the legal process and must pay his attorney’s fees.