It’s an impulse that most defendants instantly experience the moment they are sued.
“Let’s sue ‘em back.”
I’ve heard it many times during 18 years of practicing law, but rarely did a defendant ever go through with it. It can make the defendant appear mean or vindictive, and definitely not sympathetic.
But Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has provided a rare exception to the usual rule.
He has sued the woman accusing him of sexual assault for seducing him.
“At all times while she was in Mr. Roethlisberger’s room, [the plaintiff] acted voluntarily,” Roethlisberger’s formal answer to the complaint the lawsuit states. “Mr. Roethlisberger did not sexually assault, batter, falsely imprison, or otherwise commit any crime or tort against [the planitiff].”
In the latest filing, Roethlisberger’s lawyers claim that the accuser “has a history of using sex and lies to get what she wants” and that “consistent with her pattern of promiscuity and deceit, Ms. McNulty is lying about sex to get money and to save her job.”
In support of his counterclaim, Roethlisbeger specifically alleges that the accuser engaged in “extortion, abuse of process and defamation.” Roethlisberger’s claim demands damages in excess of $10,000 (likely the jurisdictional minimum in Nevada civil court) to compensate for “lost opportunity for endorsement deals and other revenues, damage to his reputation, emotional distress and legal fees and costs.”
But here’s the thing. Unless she buys a winning Powerball ticket at some point in her life, the accuser won’t have the cash to pay off a verdict in Roethlisberger’s favor. That’s why the better approach might be to just defend the case and not sue a woman for a monetary award that she’ll never be able to afford.
Then again, Roethlisberger and his legal team likely are hoping that she’ll simply cave and go away. Filing a lawsuit against her could be the thing that causes her to decide that enough is enough.