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04th Dec 2018

Conor McGregor’s legal team files motion to dismiss claim in Michael Chiesa lawsuit

The legitimacy of Chiesa's emotional distress has been called into question

Darragh Murphy

Conor McGregor is trying to get his legal wrangles sorted before the turn of the year

After settling his lawsuit with the MGM Grand security guard who claimed he was hit by a Monster energy drink during the infamous press conference incident ahead of McGregor’s UFC 202 meeting with Nate Diaz, ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor has now set his sights on addressing the Brooklyn bus attack.

McGregor’s legal team has apparently filed a motion to dismiss a complaint made by fellow UFC lightweight Michael Chiesa for injuries sustained in an incident at the Barclays Centre in April, when McGregor threw a hand truck through a bus window.

The attack forced Chiesa to withdraw from a scheduled fight with Anthony Pettis due to a cut picked up from the shattered glass and Chiesa then filed a lawsuit against McGregor; citing assault and battery, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEcdxNPpXrw

McGregor’s legal representatives have now moved to dismiss that suit by calling into question Chiesa’s complaint of emotional distress.

“While the conduct alleged in the complaint is unquestionably inappropriate, it does not approach the rigorous standard of outrageousness as defined by New York courts, therefore further supporting the dismissal of the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim,” McGregor’s attorney James M. Catterson wrote, as per MMA Fighting.

The fact that McGregor had not targeted Chiesa nor intended to injure him specifically has prompted the Irishman’s team to attempt to dismiss Chiesa’s claims of emotional distress but they will likely concede to the assault and battery charge.

Catterson continued: “Chiesa, a seasoned combat sports fighter, fails to plead any allegations containing even a scintilla of factual specificity regarding the alleged emotional distress. The two emotional distress causes of action allege only that Defendants ‘caused severe emotion distress, mental trauma, and/or bodily harm to the plaintiff’.

“The complaint contains no other information supporting these alleged emotional injuries. These boilerplate, unsubstantiated allegations do not adequately plead a claim for emotional distress, and therefore Chiesa’s intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress claims must be dismissed.”