Trevor Bauer and Lindsey Hill (Bauer image a screenshot via his YouTube; Hill image a screenshot via video submitted to U.S. District Court)
Trevor Bauer, the MLB star pitcher who was suspended for a season and went on to pitch in Japan after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman during “rough sex” encounters, has reached a settlement with Lindsey Hill. Both Bauer and Hill are dismissing their lawsuits against each other “with prejudice,” meaning those actions cannot be filed again — and Bauer’s lawyers say he is not personally paying a dime to end the litigation.
Bauer’s lawyers Jon Fetterolf and Shawn Holley announced the case outcome, saying Monday that Bauer and Hill have settled “all outstanding litigation.”
Grateful for the court process and the justice system. Today is a very good day. 👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/zweTgdkCll
— Rachel Luba (レイチェル・ルーバ) (@AgentRachelLuba) October 2, 2023
“Both of their respective claims have been withdrawn with prejudice, effective today,” the lawyers said in a statement. “Mr. Bauer did not make — and has never made — any payments to Ms. Hill, including to resolve their litigation.”
“With this matter now at rest, Mr. Bauer can focus completely on baseball,” the statement concluded.
The ugly dispute began after Hill filed for a temporary restraining order in June 2021, claiming that consensual “rough sex” encounters had escalated to violent sexual assault.
But Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman declined to extend Hill’s restraining order because her petition was “materially misleading.”
“Let me be clear. The injuries as shown in the photographs are terrible. Under most circumstances, merely seeing photographs such as those would serve as a per se condemnation of the perpetrator of such injuries. But petitioner had and has the right to engage in any kind of sex as a consenting adults that she wants to with another consenting adult,” Gould-Saltman said in August 2021. “She was not ambiguous about wanting rough sex in the parties’ first encounter and wanting rougher sex in the second encounter.”
“Petitioner was asked by respondent to decide whatever she wanted to let respondent know was off limits, and she did. If she had set limits and he had exceeded them, this case would be very clear. But she set limits without fully considering all the consequences and respondent did not exceed the limits that petitioner set,” the judge continued.
Read Related Also: The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, October 1, 2023
Prosecutors never filed criminal charges against Bauer.
In April 2022, Bauer filed a defamation lawsuit against Hill, claiming that she “fabricated allegations of sexual assault” as part of a money-grab to ruin his career.
Hill denied that and in August 2022 doubled down on her claims, filing a battery and sexual battery countersuit claiming that Bauer, among other things, punched her in the vagina — which he denied.
The following month, Bauer released a video of a smiling Hill in bed with him, writing, “This was taken hours after I supposedly brutally assaulted this woman, when she claims she was terrified and desperate to get out of my house and in tremendous pain.”
This was taken hours after I supposedly brutally assaulted this woman, when she claims she was terrified and desperate to get out of my house and in tremendous pain.
— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) September 14, 2022
The litigation continued on, but nearly a year later it has reached a definitive end.
Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Hill, reportedly reacted to the settlement by saying Hill received $300,000 from her insurance company.
“Based on that payment, Lindsey agreed to settle the lawsuit,” Freedman said, according to The Athletic, which was previously sued by Bauer. “Now that the lawsuit is over, Lindsey looks forward to helping others.”
Freedman reportedly told TMZ that “neither Lindsey nor anyone on her behalf paid anything to Bauer. Not a single dollar.”
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
