Former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer and a woman who accused him of sexual assault settled their lawsuits this week.
Bauer, 32, initially sued the woman — identified by her legal team as Lindsey Hill — for defamation after she and multiple other women levied sexual assault allegations that led to his record-setting MLB suspension. Hill countersued Bauer for sexual battery.
Their ongoing suits, which began in 2022, were settled in a court filing Monday, per The Washington Post. No money was exchanged between the two parties. Both sides continue to deny the other’s claims.
Bauer’s initial suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy of 324 games got reduced by an independent arbitrator to 194 games. Once he was reinstated, the Dodgers released him; Bauer spent 2023 pitching in Japan.
MLB has the authority to punish players even if they aren’t convicted in the criminal justice system. The league suspended Bauer when multiple women, including Hill, made allegations against him.
An Arizona woman has also reportedly filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Bauer that includes horrifying allegations. Two additional women from Ohio have accused Bauer of sexual assault in separate incidents as well.
Bauer has denied all allegations.
In Bauer’s lawsuit against Hill, he claimed the San Diego woman exaggerated her injuries and, his lawyers said, planned to “destroy” the pitcher’s career. After the suit was settled, he released a four-minute video that included text messages and video he claimed as evidence of Hill’s plot to exploit him for financial gain.
Hill’s 2021 restraining order against Bauer — claiming that he had strangled and punched her during sex without her consent — got denied by a judge. According to ESPN, the forensic nurse examiner who performed the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) exam on Hill after the alleged sexual incident testified that the “bruising she documented outside the woman’s vagina was unlike any she had seen in her 40-plus years of experience.”
The district attorney’s office declined to file criminal charges against Bauer.
While no money was exchanged between Bauer and Hill, both were responsible for their attorneys’ fees. Hill’s insurance company will pay her $300,000 in a separate agreement, according to The Washington Post.
Bauer hasn’t pitched in MLB since 2021, when he was suspended by MLB. At the time, he was the reigning Cy Young winner and had signed a record-breaking three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers.
If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault or domestic violence, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or the Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
