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A U.S. District Court docket decide in California has dismissed a federal lawsuit in opposition to New York Knicks and New York Rangers proprietor James Dolan on Tuesday. The lawsuit alleged Dolan sexually assaulted and trafficked a masseuse in 2013. The plaintiff, Kellye Croft, originally filed the lawsuit on Jan. 16, alleging that Dolan sexually assaulted her whereas his band was on tour with The Eagles. In that occasion, the lawsuit alleged that whereas Croft was massaging Dolan, the Knicks group proprietor was “extraordinarily assertive, and pressured Ms. Croft into undesirable sexual activity with him,” regardless of her telling him that she didn’t wish to interact in any sexual exercise with him.
The lawsuit particulars one other incident towards the tip of 2013, the place Croft was flown out to California below the pretense that she would work as a therapeutic massage therapist. Nonetheless, the lawsuit alleged that Croft was “trafficked” by Dolan to “interact in illegal and unwelcome intercourse acts along with her.” Croft additionally alleged that Dolan facilitated her assembly convicted intercourse offender and former film producer Harvey Weinstein in January 2014, which led to Croft being sexually assaulted by Weinstein.
U.S. District Choose Percy Anderson dismissed Croft’s allegations that she was intercourse trafficked with prejudice, which suggests it will probably’t be filed once more. Nonetheless, the opposite claims, which incorporates sexual battery in opposition to Dolan, sexual assault by Weinstein and aiding and abetting of sexual assault by Dolan had been dismissed with out prejudice, that means Croft can file these once more. The courtroom additionally ordered Croft to pay the defendant’s courtroom prices.
“We respectfully disagree with the District Court docket’s choice, which we imagine incorrectly interprets the federal intercourse trafficking legislation and undermines critically vital protections for intercourse trafficking survivors,” Croft’s attorneys, Kevin Mintzer and Meredith Firetog, informed ESPN. “We might be interesting this choice and are assured that the Court docket of Appeals will appropriate this injustice. We can even proceed to pursue Ms. Croft’s sexual battery claims in opposition to James Dolan and Harvey Weinstein, which stay unaffected by the [Tuesday’s] choice. Our combat for Ms. Croft is simply starting.”
Croft was looking for financial damages and wished a trial by jury on the lawsuit filed in January.
In response to the dismissal of the lawsuit, a spokesperson for James Dolan gave CBS Sports activities the next assertion:
“We’re more than happy with the dismissal of the lawsuit, which was a malicious try to say horrific allegations by an legal professional who subverts the authorized system for private achieve — this additionally occurs to be the identical legal professional within the Charles Oakley case.”
The case referred to within the assertion from Dolan’s spokesperson is about an ongoing civil case relating to an incident in 2017 that concerned former Knicks participant Charles Oakley getting thrown out of Madison Sq. Backyard. Oakley has tried to sue Dolan and MSG for using an “unreasonable quantity of power” by enviornment safety, which concerned him getting walked out with handcuffs on. Oakley’s case was initially dismissed in 2021, however was later reinstated by an appeals courtroom in 2023, permitting Oakley so as to add Dolan as a defendant. On Sept. 10, Dolan was ordered to offer a deposition on the matter, which can happen at a later date.
