An attorney for former Lakers shooting guard Byron Scott informed a Burbank Superior Court judge last Friday that her client intends to file for bankruptcy. This announcement comes as a civil trial nears in a lawsuit brought by a 54-year-old woman who accuses Scott of sexually abusing her during a 1987 team event.
Linda Bauermeister, Scott’s lawyer, made the statement during a hearing before Burbank Superior Court Judge Lee S. Arian. During the same hearing, Judge Arian approved a sealed settlement between the plaintiff and Campbell Hall, a K-12 independent Episcopal school also named in the lawsuit.
A bankruptcy filing typically puts civil litigation on hold. The trial for the portion of the woman’s case against Scott is currently scheduled for October 12. The segment of the case involving Campbell Hall will remain under wraps until after the allegations against Scott are tried and a final judgment is entered in that part of the case. Scott’s attorneys, representing the “Showtime” era Laker player, opposed the temporary sealing of the Campbell Hall settlement.
The complaint, filed in December 2022, alleges sexual battery and false imprisonment. It names Scott, now 65, as a defendant alongside Campbell Hall School. The plaintiff was 15 years old at the time of the alleged abuse, while Scott was 26.
According to the lawsuit, the incident occurred in 1987 while the plaintiff was attending summer school at Campbell Hall. She alleges she was sexually assaulted by Scott in a locked janitor’s closet located within the school gymnasium. The complaint states that the Lakers were present at the school at that time to film an instructional basketball video and to engage with students, parents, and faculty members.
In their own court papers, Scott’s attorneys have stated that he believed the girl was a member of the production crew for the video, and not a student or a minor at the school.
With the trial against Scott approaching on October 12, the anticipated bankruptcy filing introduces a new procedural layer that could affect the timing and progression of the civil proceedings. The sealed settlement with Campbell Hall will remain undisclosed to the public until after a judgment is reached in the separate case against Scott.
