A motion to extend the time period to serve a summons to Conor McGregor for the sexual battery civil case he's named in was filed in court in Miami, Florida on Tuesday, April 29.
McGregor is accused of sexual battery on a woman anonymized as 'Jane Doe' in the suit that was lodged in the Southern District of Florida - Miami Division on January 14.
The sexual battery is alleged to have occurred on June 9, 2023, at the Kesaya Center in Miami, Florida, when the Miami Heat were playing the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of the NBA finals.
McGregor's summons was issued the day after the suit was filed in January, but it has yet to be served on the Irish sports star despite efforts in both the US and Ireland.
The deadline for the summons to be served on US soil was April 15, prompting Jane Doe and her lawyer, James Dunn, to file the motion to extend the deadline.
However, as per the Hague Convention, the summons can be served internationally for up to a year, meaning an extension is not needed in Ireland as of yet.
Tuesday's filing in the Southern District of Florida - Miami Division outlines the failed attempts to serve the summons on McGregor in both the US and Ireland.
The filing includes the email correspondence between Jane Doe's lawyer James Dunn and High Court officials in Ireland.
The motion says that pursuant to the Hague Convention’s process, Dunn submitted a “Request for Service Abroad of Judicial or Extrajudicial Documents” to the Master of the High Court in Dublin via email on January 16.
He also sent the documents via FedEx on January 17, and received confirmation on February 11 that the FedEx had been received in Dublin on January 21.
On April 10, Dunn asked via email where he was in the process with service of the complaint, and also attached an amended version of the initial complaint. He sent the amended complaint via FedEx the following day.
(The amended complaint to drop Basketball Properties, Inc., Miami Heat Limited Partnership, and Compass Group USA, who will be pursued in State Court, was filed on January 28.)
On April 15, Dunn received confirmation that the FedEx had been received in Dublin.
"We have received your documents, and they are out for service," the email said.
"The service provider has not confirmed if the serve was successful or not yet."
Dunn again emailed asking for an update on April 29, the same day the motion to extend was filed in Miami.
The motion goes on to say that the Irish interpretation of the Hague Convention service of process procedure requires An Garda Síochána to serve the defendant within 12 months.
The motion adds: "After consultation with Irish Solicitors, Irish Town Agents, and private Irish process servers, there is no alternate process in Ireland following the Hague Convention with use of private process servers.
"Thus, the service of the Defendant in Ireland is dependent upon the over worked and underpaid local Irish police force."
The motion goes on to note that McGregor is "an internationally known mixed martial arts fighter and promoter of fighting events who travels internationally and who stays in transient lodging, moving on a weekly basis with multiple cars and security guards.
"The Defendant has traveled to the United States at least twice this year and has avoided five different process servers and private investigators in Orlando, Florida, Hollywood, Florida, Miami, Florida, and Las Vegas, NV, hired by counsel to attempt to serve Defendant."
The motion says that federal rules limit the validity of a summons on US soil to 90 days after the complaint is filed.
"The Defendant’s multiple sponsorships and political aspirations will likely militate his return to the US," the motion says.
In the event that McGregor returns to the US, Doe would like the opportunity to serve him with a valid summons and has thus requested the extension, the motion explains.
The motion notes that Doe is not seeking relief, rather is just seeking an extension of the time to serve McGregor the summons on US soil, and to provide an update on the service process in Ireland.
Conor McGregor accused in Miami civil suit
McGregor was named as a defendant in the sexual battery civil case that was lodged in Miami, Florida on January 14.
The civil case was lodged after prosecutors declined to pursue a criminal case for the alleged June 2023 incident.
It was also lodged less than two months after a Dublin jury sided with accuser Nikita Hand in her civil case against McGregor. McGregor is now appealing that outcome.
According to the civil suit, McGregor was in the Kesaya Center's Courtside Club during the NBA game as he was doing a promotion for TIDL pain relief spray, while Doe, a "business invitee," was a patron of the Courtside Club.
Doe's identity is known to McGregor, the lawsuit says, but Doe wishes to maintain her anonymity in the suit "to avoid embarrassment and shame from the conduct discussed" and to "protect her privacy in her career."
The lawsuit alleges that McGregor "intentionally engaged in unlawful sexual contact including attempting to forcefully place his unprotected penis into the mouth and anus of Jane Doe without her consent or permission."
McGregor's actions were "for his own sexual gratification and for the purposes of degrading the Plaintiff," the lawsuit alleges.
The touching undertaken by McGregor was "uninvited and offensive," the lawsuit adds.
Due to McGregor's alleged sexual assault, Jane Doe claims to have suffered "physical, psychological, and emotional damages."
Doe is demanding judgment against McGregor for "past and future medical treatment, compensatory damages, and costs, and such other and further relief as this Court deems reasonable."
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