Former Los Angeles Lakers player and coach Byron Scott has added a very serious plot twist to his legal calendar.
Scott has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. And because the legal system loves paperwork almost as much as basketball loves statistics, the filing has temporarily put a civil sexual assault lawsuit against him on hold.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Scott filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California last week.
The bankruptcy filing automatically triggers an automatic stay. In simple English, that means certain legal actions involving the person who filed for bankruptcy must pause.
That includes Scott’s upcoming civil trial. So, for now, the courtroom is waiting.
The 65-year-old is being sued by Haley Dylan, who alleges that Scott sexually assaulted her in 1987 when she was a 15-year-old student at Campbell Hall School. Scott, who was then 27 and married, was playing for the Lakers at that time.
According to Dylan’s complaint, Scott and other Lakers players were at Campbell Hall to film an instructional basketball video. Dylan alleges that she and Scott walked away from faculty members and the production crew before the alleged assault occurred in a janitor’s closet.
Scott’s attorney, Linda Borishter, has said Scott believed Dylan was over 18 and that he had no idea that she would claim otherwise until decades later.
That lawsuit alleges sexual battery and false imprisonment. The trial was scheduled for September before being moved to October 12th because of a scheduling conflict. But now there is uncertainty over when or whether this case will reach a jury because of this bankruptcy filing.
Basically, one court has hit the pause button while another court deals with the bankruptcy.
Legal drama really does know how to create crossover episodes.
The financial details disclosed in Scott’s bankruptcy filings are pretty notable. His estimated assets are less than $50,000, whereas liabilities are between one and ten million. He characterizes the debt as alleged tort liability rather than consumer or business debt.
That financial situation is pretty striking because of Scott’s lengthy NBA career. He played 14 seasons and reportedly earned nearly $11 million in salary before becoming an NBA head coach. In 2014, he agreed to a four-year, $17 million contract to coach the Lakers.
Dylan’s legal team intends to challenge the delay. Her attorney, Kerry Garvis White, said they plan to ask the bankruptcy court for relief from the automatic stay so that the case can return to state court and proceed before a jury.
If this request is denied, Dylan could instead be required to pursue her claims through the bankruptcy court.
Campbell Hall, which was also named as a defendant, has already reached a confidential settlement with Dylan, but that amount remains sealed pending the conclusion of Scott’s case.
Scott’s attention is focused on a very different kind of court, and this time, there is no scoreboard.
