Chris Brown‘s ex-housekeeper has sued him for an alleged dog attack that happened while she and her sister were cleaning his home — but the singer isn’t taking the accusation lying down, and wants his accuser to submit to a battery of mental tests.
Court documents obtained by Radar Online reveal that the “Run It” singer made the request through his lawyers on Monday (July 17). According to the documents, Patricia Avila — who, along with her sister Maria, was hired by Brown to clean his Tarzana (near Los Angeles) home at the rate of $600/day — claimed to be suffering from “extreme emotional distress” after watching her sister allegedly get attacked by one of Brown’s dogs.
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Brown, however, is calling shenanigans on Avila’s claim, and wants her to submit to an 8-hour mental exam to prove her claims.
It must be made clear, at this point, that there are two outstanding claims against Chris Brown: one filed by Maria Avila, where she requests more than $71 million in damages, and one filed by Patricia Avila, where she requests an unspecified amount in damages. While Maria Avila’s case is focused around the actual injury incurred, Patricia Avila’s case is focused on the resultant “pain and suffering” of the attack.
Last week, Brown’s legal team asked the Los Angeles Superior Court to push back the trial date for the pending dog bite lawsuit back from September 2023 to December 2023. Brown’s legal team argued that the housekeeper who brought the suit against him “would not be harmed” by the date being pushed back.
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What’s more, Brown’s team argued that the housekeeper who was bitten is still being treated for her injuries under her worker’s compensation claims, which means the team is unable to gather key evidence needed for them to proceed with the trial.
The judge presiding over the case granted the motion.
Patricia Avila claimed that one of Brown’s two dogs attacked her sister, Maria, while the pair were tending to the singer’s house back in 2020.
The dog in question — a Caucasian ovcharka — allegedly growled at Maria and “proceeded to viciously attack” her when she went into the backyard to empty the vacuum.
Patricia allegedly ran outside “where she found her sister covered in blood while she was screaming and crying for help.” Brown then personally made the call to 911, with Patricia saying Maria was left with injuries around her eye, bites on her leg and inches of skin missing from her arm. The injuries led her to spending several days in hospital, requiring two surgeries.
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While Chris Brown is claiming that the dog attacked the housekeepers after the pair “provoked” him, California is what’s known as a “strict liability” state. According to Forbes, this means that the dog owner is responsible for all dog bites, as long as the bites happen either on public property (such as a park) or on private property where the victim was authorized to be there. Trespassers or other unauthorized visitors to private property are not covered by the strict liability rule.
It’s worth noting, however, that a valid defense against the strict liability rule is if “the victim provoked the dog and was fully or partly responsible for the incident,” which Chris Brown is claiming as a defense.
