Bulls guard Derrick Rose is being sued by a woman who alleges Rose and two other men drugged her and later broke into her apartment and raped her.
In a civil lawsuit filed on Thursday (AEST) in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, alleges that Rose and his childhood friends Randall Hampton and Ryan Allen assaulted her in August 2013.
Rose’s attorney, Lisa Cohen, has called the lawsuit, “outrageous,” according to TMZ, which initially reported the story.
The Bulls issued a statement on this incident on Friday (AEST): “We just learned about this matter and do not know all the facts. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
According to court documents obtained by Omnisport, the woman said she was in a two-year relationship with Rose. She said they met at a Los Angeles party in October 2011 and began texting each other shortly thereafter. They began, “meeting regularly and formed an intimate relationship with one another.”
The plaintiff claims she met with Rose approximately 12 times in 2011 and about 10 times in 2012, with another five meetings in 2013, ending with the alleged rape.
No criminal charges were sought stemming from the alleged incidents. The civil complaint says the woman was, "reluctant," to report the rape to authorities because she feared retaliation and, "did not wish jail time," for Rose. Instead, she filed a civil lawsuit with hopes of recovering what she says are damages to her life from the alleged incident.
In her lawsuit, the civil complaints against Rose, Hampton and Allen are sexual battery, battery, trespassing, conspiracy to trespass and commit rape and battery, a civil action for gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and a claim for declaratory relief. The plaintiff has requested a trial by jury.
According to the complaint, the woman says Rose eventually began to, “obsessively ask,” the woman, “to involve others in their sex life,” including strippers and other couples. The woman said Rose indicated in 2013 that he wanted her to have sex with him and Hampton at the same time. She refused but did not break off their relationship, having, "naively assumed that (Rose) could resume a normal, one-on-one relationship."
The complaint goes on to say that after the woman accepted an invitation to Rose’s Beverly Hills home on Aug. 26, 2013, Rose, Hampton and Allen drugged her as part of a scheme for each of them to have sex with her. A friend of the woman who also was at the house became offended when Allen told the women to, “take your clothes off,” according to the complaint, and the two women left while Allen yelled profanities at them.
They took a cab back to the plaintiff’s Los Angeles apartment, where she claims the three men broke into her home and then forcibly had sex with her. The complaint says the plaintiff, "has very little recollection of the events," because she was incapacitated by the drugs but had several, "flashes," of memory of specific moments.
The woman claims that Allen, who was briefly on the Bulls roster in 2012, called her a month later, stated he, “was not aware,” the woman was drugged and thought, “she had wanted it,” while adding that, “girls in L.A. ask them to have group sex because they recognise them as NBA players.”
It was after this conversation, the woman claims she was encouraged by a friend, “to pursue legal action against the men.” The woman says she waited to take action because she felt, "ashamed and embarrassed," from the encounter. She also felt concerned over what her, "conservative family," would think of her.
The woman is seeking a, “money judgment representing compensatory damages including consequential damages, lost wages and earnings," because she was eventually fired after her, “productivity was seriously affected by the rapes,” and a money judgment for mental pain and anguish and severe emotional distress.
Cohen called the lawsuit a cash grab and, “an attempt to shake down a highly respected and successful athlete."
"We have complete confidence that the case will be dismissed," Cohen said, "and that Mr. Rose will be vindicated."
Rose on Friday (AEST) denied the woman's claims.
Rose made the denial in a statement to USA Today.
“I am just focusing on staying healthy and getting ready for the season,” Rose said in the statement.
“I am not going to comment other than to say — I know the truth, and am confident I will be proven innocent.”
A spokesperson for Rose, in a statement released on Friday (via Sports Business Journal), said the lawsuit was an attempt at extorting money from Rose.
"The plaintiff's allegations are completely false and without any factual basis," the spokesperson said as part of a series of tweets.
"This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to shake down a highly respected and successful athlete. Mr. Rose was in a non-exclusive, consensual sexual relationship with the plaintiff for over two years.
"The plaintiff expressed no complaints about Mr. Rose until various lawyers began to surface and demand that the plaintiff be paid millions of dollars.
"This is the third lawyer the plaintiff has retained in this matter. Two years have passed since Mr. Rose ended the consensual relationship with the plaintiff and her claims are as meritless now as they were two years ago... This lawsuit is outrageous."