Trevor Bauer and accuser settle lawsuit over sexual assault claims

LOS ANGELES — Trevor Bauer, the Cy Young Award-winning pitcher who spent the season in Japan after serving a record suspension for violating baseball’s domestic violence policy, agreed to settle his legal fight with Lindsey Hill, the woman who first accused him of sexual assault.

The former Los Angeles Dodgers ace filed the lawsuit for defamation against Hill in spring 2022, as MLB readied a two-season suspension after multiple women made similar allegations against him. But the lawsuit had become a potential liability for Bauer after Hill filed a counterclaim for sexual battery.

The settlement was revealed in a court filing Monday. According to a copy of the settlement agreement obtained by The Washington Post, neither Bauer nor Hill is paying to settle the case, and each will bear their own attorneys’ fees. Both sides continue to deny the other’s claims, according to the agreement.

In a separate agreement, Hill’s insurance company, which had covered her defense, will pay her $300,000, records show.

In a statement, Hill’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, called it an “outstanding resolution for Lindsey," saying “neither Lindsey nor anyone on her behalf paid anything to Bauer. Not a single dollar. Even better, Lindsey received $300,000 from her insurance company. Based on that payment, Lindsey agreed to settle the lawsuit.”

Hill said in an interview with The Post that despite Bauer’s claims that she plotted to derail his career for financial gain, her allegations were never about money. “I’m finally free from his grip, and to be able to move forward with my life is better than anything money could ever give me, truly," Hill said.

In a statement Monday, Bauer’s attorneys, Jon Fetterolf and Shawn Holley, said that with the settlement, "Mr. Bauer can focus completely on baseball.”

Bauer simultaneously posted a video to YouTube in which he read text messages that he said were evidence of her scheme to defraud him. In the video, Bauer said the lawsuit “was the only way for me to obtain critical information to clear my name."

“Quite frankly, regardless of the outcome in court, I’ve paid significantly more in legal fees than Lindsey Hill could ever pay me in her entire life, and I knew that would be the case going in,” Bauer said. “But the lawsuit was never about the money for me.”

The Post has not previously identified Hill, in line with a policy not to name alleged victims of domestic violence or sexual assault unless they ask to be identified. Hill, 29, asked to be identified going forward, saying that following the settlement was “the first time I’ve ever been able to have my own voice” since she accused Bauer.

Hill sought a restraining order against Bauer in Los Angeles in June 2021, claiming that he had strangled and punched her during sex without her consent, leading to her hospitalization and a police investigation. A judge ultimately denied her request for a restraining order, and prosecutors declined to charge Bauer. But other accusers emerged.

Bauer, who had also sued sports media outlets Deadspin and The Athletic over coverage of the allegations, filed suit against Hill four days before MLB levied its suspension that, upon his appeal, would lead to an arbitration hearing where she and at least one other accuser would be key witnesses against him.

In the lawsuit, Bauer claimed that the woman exaggerated her injuries in what his lawyers called “her plan to destroy Mr. Bauer’s career and extract money from him.” Bauer included the woman’s previous attorney in the lawsuit, claiming that remarks he made to The Post about how the pitcher had “brutalized” his client were defamatory.

Hill said that she believed Bauer’s motives in suing her included “intimidation of the other victims and trying to sway the arbitration process.” Following a hearing that spanned seven months, the arbitrator reduced the suspension to 194 games.

But the lawsuit soon threatened to backfire on Bauer. District Court Judge James V. Selna struck the claim against Hill’s former attorney, finding that his comments to The Post were “substantially true,” and ordered Bauer to pay his attorney fees. And last year, Hill filed a counterclaim against Bauer seeking damages for sexual battery. Her complaint cited a recorded phone call in which Bauer — who has publicly denied hitting Hill — acknowledged hitting her multiple times, but not “that hard.” (During his deposition in the case, Bauer said he didn’t push back on her claims that he hit her because the phone call wasn’t the “forum to be litigating” her allegations, according to a summary of his testimony prepared by Hill’s insurer.)

The judge, Selna, then denied Bauer’s lawyers’ attempts to dismiss that counterclaim. Selna disagreed with their contention that a state judge, in denying Hill’s restraining order on limited legal grounds, did not find proof that Bauer abused her. “Bauer is incorrect,” Selna wrote.

Filings in the lawsuit revealed other accusations against Bauer, including those of a woman who had filed her own legal claim against him in Arizona, making her the fourth woman to publicly allege he had sexually assaulted her. Bauer denied those allegations and has filed a countersuit against the woman in Arizona, accusing her of attempted extortion.

Developments in the case had also been damaging for Hill. Last month, after Bauer’s lawyers accused her of witness tampering by messaging several people involved in the case, Selna called her conduct “ill-advised and highly inappropriate” and ordered her to no longer discuss the case with potential witnesses. Hill’s lawyer said in court filings that Hill, a recovering alcoholic, sent at least some of the messages while suffering a relapse.

Court records show that the depositions of Bauer and Hill were completed within the last month. Bauer, playing for the Yokohama DeNA Baystars, sat for his deposition remotely. At the time of the settlement, court records show, the two sides were arguing over whether Bauer had to produce a transcript of another accuser’s testimony against him in MLB’s confidential arbitration hearing. The trial had been set for next February.

Bauer, who in 2021 was at the time the highest-paid player in MLB history with a $38 million salary, was cut by the Dodgers following his reinstatement to MLB last winter. He then could not get an MLB team to agree to sign him for the league minimum salary. After instead signing in Japan for $4 million, Bauer posted a 10-4 record with a 2.76 ERA.

A federal judge previously dismissed Bauer’s lawsuit against Deadspin, and the pitcher settled his lawsuit against The Athletic with no money exchanged after the website agreed to add a clarification to a two-year-old article about his case. He and the Arizona woman have indicated that they will be ready for trial in that lawsuit by mid-2024, court records show.

Hill said she didn’t regret going public with her allegations against Bauer more than two years ago because it may have prevented him from abusing another woman. “I can’t stop Trevor Bauer ever,” Hill said. “But if I make him think twice before doing that again, it’s totally worth it."

This story has been updated to clarify Hill’s agreement with her insurance company.

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