Trevor Bauer’s Accuser Files Counterclaim Against Pitcher While His Arbitration Hearing Continues

A San Diego woman who last summer leveled sexual assault allegations against Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer has filed a counterclaim in California federal court, alleging Bauer committed sexual battery and battery.

The legal filing comes a little over three months after Bauer, 31, filed his own defamation and tortious interference civil lawsuit against the woman and one of her attorneys, Newport Beach-based Fred Thiagarajah.

“Bauer’s horrific pattern of sexual abuse speaks for itself,” reads the woman’s counterclaim. The filing also says that Bauer “sexually battered” the woman on two separate occasions in 2021. The counterclaim demands a jury trial and the woman is seeking damages, legal costs and “further relief as this Court may deem just and proper.”

Bauer is currently in the midst of an arbitration hearing to fight the 324-game suspension he was given by baseball commissioner Rob Manfred. That MLB discipline came as a result of the findings in a league investigation, after which Manfred concluded that Bauer had violated the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

Bauer’s punishment is the longest ban for any player in violation of that collectively-bargained policy, which was first implemented in 2015, and he is also the only player, so far, to appeal.

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office announced it would not seek charges against Bauer, following a five-month review of the Pasadena Police Department’s investigation (separate from MLB’s) of the pitcher. And in August 2021, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the San Diego woman’s claims in her initial declaration to request a temporary domestic violence restraining order against Bauer were “materially misleading.”

That same judge, Dianna Gould-Saltman, denied the San Diego woman a permanent restraining order and dissolved the temporary DVRO after a four-day hearing. Bauer was present during that August 2021 hearing but did not testify. He has never been arrested or charged with any crimes.

In the latest filing, the woman alleges many of the same claims she made in the declaration for the temporary DVRO request on June 29, 2021. According to the counterclaim, Bauer is alleged to have choked the woman to the point of unconsciousness during sex on each of the two meetings at Bauer’s Pasadena residence.

The woman also alleges in the lawsuit that Bauer had anal sex without the woman’s consent, and that during the second encounter on May 16, 2021, Bauer “began using a closed fist to forcefully and repeatedly punch” the woman in her “groin area.” The counterclaim also references two Ohio women who have made similar allegations against Bauer. Those allegations were first reported by the Washington Post.

In response to the counterclaim being filed, Bauer’s attorneys, Shawn Holley and Jon Fetterolf said in a statement that the woman’s “claims were judicially disproven last August following a hearing regarding a DVRO petition filed in bad faith.”

“She ‘materially misled’ the court and could not meet the lowest burden of proof in our justice system — because her claims were false,” Bauer’s attorneys said. “She is being sued for defamation to be held accountable for her lies and the damage it has caused. Her countersuit is a regurgitation of her judicially disproven claims and yet another attempt (by the woman) to defame Mr. Bauer and seek to profit from her lies.”

Jeremy Evans, the chief entrepreneur officer, founder and managing attorney at California Sports Lawyer, said one possible strategy for the woman filing the counterclaim is that she can “tell her story to a jury.

“But ultimately, it is strategizing, possibly to show, ‘We have additional claims to what’s been argued on (Bauer’s) side,’” said Evans. “Generally, about 90% of these kinds of cases settle before trial. With a counterclaim, her side could be putting out new information to put pressure on the other side. One concern is, ‘Do you want that kind of information out in a public transcript?’”

MLB would not comment on the woman’s counterclaim, and won’t comment on Bauer’s arbitration until a conclusion is reached. Manfred has the authority to discipline players the league deems have violated the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy even if no criminal charges are brought against the player, he’s not arrested or he’s not convicted in a court of law.

Bryan Freedman, who is representing the San Diego woman, did not return a call, but told the Washington Post: “It’s not about, nor has it ever been about, the money. She is making a claim because he’s accused her of trying to extort him, and that is provably false. She has never even requested money from Bauer and his accusation of such is not only patently false but yet another form of harassment and bullying.”

Two of the woman’s previous attorneys — Lisa Helfend Meyer and Doreen Marie Olson — withdrew from representing her on April 5, according to a court filing.

Bauer’s civil defamation suit against the San Diego woman alleges that she “wanted to destroy Mr. Bauer’s reputation and baseball career, garner attention for herself, and extract millions of dollars from Mr. Bauer,” and that Thiagarajah, the attorney, “aided in those efforts.”

Bauer also filed federal defamation lawsuits against two media companies earlier this year — G/O Media, the parent company of Deadspin, and The Athletic — “for knowingly publishing false information” about Bauer and the sexual assault allegations he faced. Those suits are still open as well.

If Bauer’s MLB suspension is upheld by independent arbitrator Martin Scheinman, Bauer would stand to lose approximately $60 million in salary, and his contract with the Dodgers will have ended by the time the suspension concludes. He signed a three-year, $102 million pact with the Dodgers before the start of the 2021 season.

“This is about reputation for both of them,” said Evans, referring to Bauer and his accuser. “Both parties might be looking at how they can clear their names. Bauer still has another five, six years to pitch, and if he’s cleared through this civil case, maybe that gives him more firepower to try and resume his career. Is it a sound strategy? I always ask clients, ‘What is the end goal, and can you live with the current situation?’ If you cannot avoid litigation, you have to go this route.”