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Roethlisberger seeks sanctions against accuser's lawyer
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A lawyer for Ben Roethlisberger has formally asked a Nevada court to sanction the attorney representing the woman who has accused the Steelers quarterback of raping her in a Lake Tahoe hotel room last summer.
The filing, made yesterday in Washoe County, accuses Calvin R. X. Dunlap of filing a suit against Mr. Roethlisberger that "welded together false allegations to punish [the plaintiff's] employer and coerce a windfall from an admired, civic minded and successful professional football star."
The 31-year-old plaintiff alleges that Mr. Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her in July 2008 while she worked as a VIP hostess for Harrah's Lake Tahoe during a celebrity golf tournament. She sued Mr. Roethlisberger as well as eight former or current Harrah's employees, accusing them of dismissing her claims and trying to cover up the situation.
Mr. Roethlisberger, 27, denies the allegations.
Nevada lawyer John Echeverria, who is part of the Roethlisberger legal team, said in his filing that Mr. Dunlap violated Rule 11 of the state's rules of civil procedure, which is designed to prevent the filing of suits that are frivolous, have an "improper purpose," or are not supported by evidence. Sanctions could be monetary or non-monetary.
"Defendant hopes that sanctions will shock plaintiff's counsel back to reality, so that plaintiff and others like her will not be rewarded for filing complaints based on fiction rather than factual evidence," the filing says.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.
First Published September 17, 2009 10:59 am
