A longtime friend of Ryan Braun’s filed a lawsuit against the suspended slugger last month, charging that Braun defamed him after the friend provided help in his successful appeal of Braun’s positive steroid test in 2011. Read more after the jump.
Ralph Sasson, 29, makes a number of personal accusations against Braun, saying in the lawsuit that Braun doped through his years at the University of Miami, committed academic fraud and accepted money while a student.
Reached this week, Sasson declined to comment and said the lawsuit speaks for itself.
Braun’s attorney, Howard Weitzman, rejected the claims.
“This lawsuit is an unfortunate attempt to capitalize on Ryan’s recent press attention for taking responsibility for his actions. The factual allegations and the legal claims have absolutely no merit. We believe the lawsuit will be dismissed,” he said in a statement.
The lawsuit says Sasson was forced to threaten Braun and Balelo with a lawsuit in order to recover $5,000 that he says was promised, and that he was paid last year when he agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement. But Sasson charges that Braun violated that agreement when he made what Sasson calls defamatory statements about him to undisclosed parties. Sasson asks for unspecified damages in the complaint.
