One of the lawsuits against Las Vegas boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his entourage alleging assault didn’t survive even the first round as it was tossed out of court last week.
An attorney for Drai’s nightclub bouncer Clay Gerling charged in a May lawsuit that Gerling was assaulted in January 2010 after he "carded" Mayweather and others in his group.
An unidentified Mayweather bodyguard named DOE 1 in the lawsuit grabbed and choked Gerling during the incident in the club at Bill's Gamblin' Hall on the Las Vegas Strip, the suit alleged.
In answering the lawsuit, attorneys for Mayweather with the Las Vegas office of the law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP said the suit was so vague that it should be dismissed under court rules requiring lawsuits to state clear, specific allegations.
"The complaint fails to allege key facts, any named causes of action and any specific information regarding any named defendants, leaving defendants to guess at their own wrongdoing and to speculate as to which causes of action are alleged against them," Mayweather’s attorneys wrote in a dismissal motion. "It cannot be said that the complaint puts Mr. Mayweather or the entity defendants on fair notice of the nature of the claim(s) and this court should dismiss plaintiff’s complaint."
The "entity" co-defendants in the case are Mayweather companies and a foundation.
"The complaint alleges only that Mr. Mayweather was present at the time of the purported event, but gives no details regarding DOE 1 and no facts supporting any involvement whatsoever by the entity defendants," Mayweather’s response said.
Clark County District Court Judge Kenneth Cory agreed with Mayweather’s attorneys that the lawsuit was deficient, dismissing it without a hearing on July 20.
However, in a court order, he gave Gerling’s attorney, Donald Kudler, an opportunity to amend and refile the lawsuit. It had not been refiled as of Wednesday.
Attorneys for Mayweather have not yet filed a response to a similar lawsuit filed in June charging Mayweather’s guards assaulted a man at the Palms in 2010.
Attorneys for the Palms, a co-defendant, responded to that lawsuit last week.
Their filing denied allegations that the Palms shared liability in the incident because it had inadequate security and failed to keep Mayweather and his entourage in check.
The Palms’ response included 37 boilerplate affirmative defenses, such as "plaintiff’s claims are barred because any harm suffered by plaintiff was caused by plaintiff’s own actions or actions of third parties."