Chris Brown Dog Bite Lawsuit: Singer Says Housekeeper ‘Only Heard’ Bloody Attack On Sister
Chris Brown says the housekeeper who claims one of his dogs “viciously” mauled her sister at his Los Angeles home has no standing to sue because “she only heard the dog barking and her sister screaming” – she didn’t actually witness the alleged attack.
In a new court filing obtained by Rolling Stone, Brown and his lawyer asked a judge to reject the woman’s civil lawsuit, which was filed last year. They call her a “remote bystander” who has no standing to sue.
Patricia Avila claims in her lawsuit that she and her sister were working as housekeepers in the R&B star’s Tarzana home on Dec. 12, 2020, when her sister stepped outside to empty a vacuum and was attacked. Avila claims she heard the dog growling and barking and her sister shrieking in pain. The “very big dog” was identified in the lawsuit as a Caucasian Shepherd Ovcharka,
“The screams were so bad that it caused plaintiff to immediately run outside, where she found her sister covered in blood while she was screaming and crying for help,” the complaint states. Avila claims she “genuinely” believed her sister, Maria Avila, might die.
“Plaintiff could observe that the dog had viciously attacked Maria’s face around her eye, there was about three to four inches of skin missing from Maria’s left arm, and that the dog had violently bitten into Maria’s leg,” her complaint states.
Avila is suing Brown for premises liability, negligent infliction of emotional distress and negligence. She alleges that since the day of the harrowing attack, she has “suffered emotional distress, including but not limited to, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, weight loss, loss of appetite, intentional complications, severe anxiety, depressions, fear, extreme sadness for her sister, and panic attacks.”
In his request for a demurrer filed Wednesday, Brown says Patricia Avila “was a remote bystander who was not present when her sister was allegedly injured,” so she has “no standing to sue as witness bystander.”
Brown’s filing continues: “Plaintiff was working inside the house and was not present when her sister allegedly was injured in the backyard. She only heard the dog barking and her sister screaming. She then ran outside to perceive her injured sister. Since plaintiff was not present and did not see the dog allegedly attack and injure her sister, plaintiff has no claim.”
Brown’s lawyer further argues that because the housekeeper worked at his property with her sister twice a week for a rate of $600 per day, she was an employee “whose remedies are limited to workers’ compensation.”
A hearing on the demurrer has been set for April 22.
Avila’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone.
