The Athletic asks court to toss Trevor Bauer’s defamation suit
On the day after a San Diego woman provided a court with medical records to support her allegation that Trevor Bauer had injured her during a sexual encounter, the Athletic reported the woman had shown “signs of a … skull fracture,†citing the concern a doctor had expressed in those records. In March, Bauer sued the Athletic for defamation, alleging the media outlet maliciously left out the information that tests had ruled out a skull fracture.
It is “preposterous†for Bauer to suggest that readers would have thought much differently of him even if the Athletic had omitted references to the alleged skull injury, attorneys for the Athletic and one of its former writers argued in a court filing Tuesday while asking a United States district court judge to throw out the lawsuit.
The attorneys also filed a separate motion that, if successful, could force Bauer to pay the legal fees the Athletic incurs to defend itself.
A hearing on both matters is set for Aug. 29.
Bauer claimed the Athletic and Molly Knight, who formerly worked for the website, engaged in “a campaign to maliciously target and harass him†and alleged the Athletic had corrected its report in an “insufficient and inaccurate†manner. In Tuesday’s filing, attorneys for the Athletic claimed the report had been properly corrected and Bauer, in alleging defamation, did not deny causing the reported injuries.
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“In short,†the attorneys wrote, “Bauer admits to hitting a woman hard enough that doctors worried he had fractured her skull but claims it was defamatory not to explain that he did not manage to do it.â€
According to the medical records included in the woman’s initial court filing, doctors had diagnosed her with “acute head injury†and “assault by manual strangulation.â€
Bauer has said the two engaged in “consensual rough sex†and he “never assaulted her in any way, at any time.†His attorneys have contested the accuracy of the medical assessments.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge last year said the woman had been “materially misleading†in some of what she wrote in her initial court filing, which was the basis for her unsuccessful bid for a restraining order against Bauer.
In suing, Bauer had cited several tweets by Knight that he claimed demonstrated malicious intent, including ones that used the phrases “cracked skull†and “fractured skull.†Another Knight tweet cited read: “Not possible to consent to a fractured skull.†In Tuesday’s filing, attorneys scoffed at the suggestion of defamation, claiming Knight was “commenting on public allegations, not reporting new facts.â€
The attorneys also noted a 2018 Twitter exchange in which Bauer responded to Knight this way: “Spare me from what? The WRATH of twitter? Lol it’s fairly clear I welcome that.â€
Bauer also has filed a defamation suit against the website Deadspin. A formal Deadspin request to throw out the case is expected to be submitted and heard this summer, according to court records, and attorneys for Deadspin have told the court they anticipate asking that Bauer be ordered to pay their fees.
Bauer is currently appealing his two-year suspension from Major League Baseball. The appeal hearing started last week and continues intermittently, based on the availability of the independent arbitrator. The arbitrator, jointly selected by the league and the players’ union, generally is available to hear MLB matters several days each month.
The arbitrator can uphold, reduce or overturn the suspension. A decision is expected before the end of the season.
Complete coverage from the Los Angeles Times of Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer’s 324-game suspension from Major League Baseball.
Bauer also has filed a defamation suit against the San Diego woman who claimed he had sexually assaulted her, triggering separate investigations by Pasadena police and MLB. After the police investigation, the Los Angeles County district attorney declined to file criminal charges against Bauer.
The San Diego woman has not yet filed a response to Bauer’s suit.
Under the league’s sexual assault policy, MLB can suspend a player even in the absence of criminal charge. The league has not said how it determined he had violated the policy, and Bauer has not said what the league told him. Two other women told the Washington Post of allegations of similar sexual encounters with Bauer, who has denied the allegations and said all encounters were consensual.
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