A lawyer for several Nevada hotel employees named in a civil lawsuit that accuses Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of sexual assault says the plaintiff's sworn statement should not be allowed to be part of the court record.

Attorney Margo Piscevich, in a motion filed yesterday in Washoe District Court in Reno, Nev., said the 54-page affidavit, filed last week by Roethlisberger's accuser, contained "immaterial, inadmissible, argumentative and scandalous" information.

"It is nothing more or less than media grandstanding, wholly improper as support for any legal argument ... ," she wrote.

As part of the court filing, she argued against a motion filed earlier by the woman's lawyer, Calvin R.X. Dunlap, seeking to add the woman's employer as a co-defendant.

The plaintiff, a 31-year-old employee of Harrah's Lake Tahoe, filed suit in July, claiming Roethlisberger assaulted her while he was staying at the hotel for a charity golf event in July 2008. The Post-Gazette does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.

Piscevich represents other defendants, including Harrah's President John Koster and security chief Guy Hyder.

Piscevich said that e-mails the woman sent to friends and co-workers suggest she had consensual sex with Roethlisberger and she filed a complaint against him only after he ignored her.

Piscevich noted that the plaintiff filed suit against Roethlisberger on the eve of the NFL preseason and then filed the lengthy affidavit the day before the Steelers played their season opener last week.

"The timing appears to be more than coincidence -- it seems to be rather the cold, calculated vengeance of a woman scorned."

-- Matthew P. Smith