Conor McGregor Sued for Alleged Sexual Assault at 2023 NBA Final
A woman who accused Conor McGregor of sexually assaulting her following a 2023 NBA Finals game has sued the former UFC champion.
According to the Associated Press, the woman is described in the lawsuit as a 49-year-old senior vice president at a high-profile financial institution on Wall Street. She claims McGregor assaulted her in the bathroom of the Kaseya Center, the Miami Heat’s home den, on June 9, 2023, after Game 4 of the Heat’s NBA Finals series against the Denver Nuggets.
The civil suit was filed by her attorney James Dunn on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. “My client has thought long and hard about the decision to pursue this civil case, and is fearful of the effect it may have on her job on Wall Street,” Dunn said in a statement to AP. “Nonetheless, her main goal in filing this suit is to raise awareness and encourage others to report sexual assault.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone, McGregor’s attorney, Barbara Llanes referenced a 2023 criminal investigation into the allegations and said “the State’s Attorney concluded that there was no case to pursue.” She added, “Almost two years and at least three lawyers later the plaintiff has a new false story. We are confident that this case too will be dismissed.”
The woman is also suing the employees of the arena where the alleged attack took place, and accusing staff and security of having “actual knowledge of the wrongfulness of the conduct” and failing to protect her. The suit claims that McGregor was served alcohol despite staff having a “chargeable knowledge of a heightened risk of battery being carried out.”
The filing also states that earlier in the evening, McGregor had twice punched the Miami Heat mascot during halftime in an apparent stunt to promote a pain relief spray. “Burnie,” the mascot, was later sent to the hospital.
Tuesday’s lawsuit stems from a sexual assault allegation made against McGregor in June 2023 via a demand letter sent to the mixed martial artist. In the letter, the MMA star was accused of “[elevating] his aggressive, unprovoked, and outrageous behavior by violently sexually assaulting and battering this firm’s client in the men’s bathroom of the Kaseya Center.” McGregor denied the allegations at the time.
On June 11, 2023, an incident report was filed with the city of Miami’s police department, but the Florida State Attorney’s Office reportedly declined to move forward with charges against McGregor.
In November, McGregor was ordered to pay more than $250,000 after Nikita Hand, who alleged that the mixed martial artist brutally assaulted her in a hotel penthouse in 2018 in Dublin, won her civil case against him in Ireland.
