Nike Inc. is seeking to be dismissed from a lawsuit filed by three men who allege they were attacked by security guards in February while taking photos of a rare Jordan Brand Koenigsegg sports car parked outside the Crypto.com arena to celebrate the trade of guard Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
According to the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, on Feb. 25 the plaintiffs were looking at the sports car on display for fans to view and take photographs of in the 800 block of Olympic Boulevard when they were assaulted by private security. Doncic was traded to the Lakers at the beginning of February.
The security guards punched Cesar Moran in the face and he fell onto the pavement, then they hit him on the head and he lost consciousness, the suit alleges. Josue Arciniega broke his right fibula trying to help Moran and Jacob Arciniega was struck several times in the head by the guards, the suit states. Jacob Arciniega is the third plaintiff. The suit does not state what relationship exists, if any between the Arciniegas.
The plaintiffs’ allegations against Nike include assault, battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The trio allege that all of the defendants hired, directed or ratified the security guards, who worked for another defendant, AJ Melino & Associates Inc.
But according to court papers filed Nov. 18 with Judge Dean J. Kitchens in advance of a Dec. 31 hearing, the twice-amended lawsuit offers no evidence that any Nike employee touched, confronted, communicated with, or interacted with the trio, or that the company hired, trained, supervised or communicated with the security guards.
“These allegations do not identify any affirmative representation by Nike that would cause a reasonable belief that the guards were acting as Nike’s agents, as California law requires,” the Nike attorneys state in their court papers.
Previously, Moran and the Arciniegas dropped the Los Angeles Lakers as a defendant based on representations from L.A. Live, another co-defendant, that the Lakers did not control or have any other involvement with the premises or the event and that the Lakers did not employ any security personnel.
However, no statute of limitations will be enforced and the plaintiffs can bring the Lakers back into the case if subsequent discovery warrants the plaintiffs doing so, the trio’s attorneys’ court papers state.
The plaintiffs had committed no crime, were unarmed and were not a threat to anyone, the suit filed April 2 states.