A federal lawsuit against James Dolan has been dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge in California, according to a three-page filing Tuesday night that was obtained by ESPN.
The lawsuit was originally filed in January by a Tennessee woman named Kellye Croft who said she was 27 and working as a licensed massage therapist when she met Dolan in fall 2013 while he was on tour with a rock band, the Eagles. Dolan's band opened for the Eagles during the tour.
Croft alleged that Dolan pressured her into unwanted sexual intercourse with him. She also alleged that in January 2014, Dolan helped arrange for her to travel to Los Angeles to join the tour, which, in an amended version of her complaint from April, she claimed constituted sex trafficking, which is a federal crime.
"We respectfully disagree with the District Court's decision, which we believe incorrectly interprets the federal sex trafficking law and undermines critically important protections for sex trafficking survivors," Croft's attorneys, Kevin Mintzer and Meredith Firetog, wrote in an email to ESPN. "We will be appealing this decision and are confident that the Court of Appeals will correct this injustice. We will also continue to pursue Ms. Croft's sexual battery claims against James Dolan and Harvey Weinstein, which remain unaffected by [Tuesday's] decision. Our fight for Ms. Croft is just beginning."
