In newly filed court documents, a UC Irvine medical professor suing Johnny Depp and the Hollywood Palladium's management company for injuries suffered in an alleged beating at an Iggy Pop concert says she filed the lawsuit anonymously "to assist me recovering from this horrific trauma.''
The 52-year-old mother of two sued Depp and Live Nation Worldwide Inc. on April 16 in Los Angeles Superior Court as Jane Doe. She says she went to the Iggy and the Stooges show with her husband at the Palladium, and Depp and his entourage became confrontational with her. Depp's guards and those of the Palladium dragged her across the floor, the suit states.
``This case arises from a highly painful and embarrassing attack, which occurred without cause or justification on my part on Dec. 1,'' the woman states in a sworn declaration filed with her new documents on Friday. ``I instructed my attorneys to file this action anonymously ... in order to ... minimize disturbance to my practice and my colleagues and to minimize the impact on my emotional recovery.''
According to the woman, the ``attack on me was so severe that I lost a bladder of urine on myself in public while I was being dragged through the Hollywood Palladium. My physicians and I agree that remaining out of the public eye will assist me recovering from the horrific trauma.''
The woman maintains the altercation worsened a medical condition and she was bedridden for 10 days. She says she has been on disability leave from her practice since December 2009 and is legally disabled.
`Depp witnessed the attack, however, despite being his security guards' direct manager, did nothing to stop the attack,'' according to court papers.
"Above and beyond being assaulted and battered, plaintiff's private body parts were exposed to the public as she was dragged through a theater in handcuffs.''
Doe claims civil rights violations and negligent hiring, among other things. Depp's lawyers want the lawsuit dismissed, along with her claim for punitive damages. Attorneys for Live Nation also want the lawsuit dismissed. A hearing on the motions is scheduled Aug. 9.
``Her complaint is missing numerous critical allegations,'' the actor's court papers state. ``For example, although (she) seeks to hold Depp liable under a negligent hiring and/or retention theory, she fails to allege any facts indicating that Depp was actually the employer of the individuals who purportedly caused her harm. Indeed, he was not.''
The woman's complaint also fails to show how her civil rights violations claim is related to her disability, according to Depp's court papers.
The 49-year-old actor's court papers take the woman to task for filing the case anonymously, stating that ``numerous articles ... identified plaintiff by name.''
But the woman's attorneys countered that Depp ``cannot supply any real justification for seeking public disclosure (and that) one can only speculate that Depp's motivation in seeking to publicly disclose Jane Doe's identity is to punish her for suing him and further traumatize her.''
- City News Service
