University of Alabama Coach Nick Saban's Daughter Accused of Assault
The alleged attack was after a 'power hour' drinking game and a Facebook post.
July 13, 2012 -- The daughter of famed University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban is fighting allegations that she attacked one of her sorority sisters after a night of drinking games and a clash over a Facebook posting.
University of Alabama student Sarah Grimes filed a lawsuit in Tuscaloosa, Ala., accusing sorority sister Kristen Saban of assault and battery.
Grimes didn't want to prosecute the case at the time of the alleged altercation, August 2010, and the case was closed, according to the Tuscaloosa Police Department. The lawsuit for the civil case was filed at the end of June and, on Thursday, Kristen Saban's attorney filed a motion for dismissal. Through her attorney, Saban has denied the accusations against her.
The lawsuit alleges that Grimes, Saban and a group of friends were playing "power hour," a drinking game set to music posted on YouTube, on Aug. 28, 2010.
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Around midnight, the group went to a bar where, "the drinking continued and Kristen's behavior became more erratic," according to the suit.
Saban's boyfriend at the time, identified only as "BV" in the lawsuit, was also at the bar and Saban allegedly became angry with him because he was not paying enough attention to her.
The women left the bar after last call and planned to go home and freshen up before going to pledge sister's house, according to the suit. At home, Saban became upset while speaking to her boyfriend on the phone. She allegedly lay down on the floor with two friends and "became emotional" when talking about how no one understood "how it was" for her.
"After Kristen refused to get off the floor after several people had tried to help her, Sarah looked over at Kristen and said, 'Kristen, please just shut up. We're all sick and tired of hearing it,'" the suit says.
"Kristen jumped up off the floor screaming, 'No one likes you, you don't have any friends' and stormed to her room," according to the suit.
Saban and Grimes continued to argue, according to the lawsuit, about an hour later, Grimes checked her Facebook and saw that Saban had posted a status saying, "No one likes Sarah! Yayyyyy!"
An infuriated Grimes told a friend, "I'm done" and the friend "cautioned Sarah from confronting Kristen about the status because of her known violent nature and previous assault on others," the suit said.
Grimes allegedly replied to the friend, "Well if she touches me, I'll kill her," the suit says.
Grimes walked across the hall to Saban's room and demanded that Saban remove the status. They exchanged words and Grimes allegedly told Saban she was "crazy" and they were "done."
"Kristen immediately used both of her hands and shoved Sarah into the corner of Courtney's open door, slamming Sarah's head," the lawsuit claimed. "Kristen proceeded to punch Sarah Grimes multiple times in her head and nose, and to pull Sarah's hair, even though Kristen knew that Sarah had really bad migraines from a prior head injury from an automobile accident."
The fighting continued, the suit claims, until Grimes allegedly noticed that "a great amount of blood was running down her chest and into her bra" and there was blood on the wooden floor.
It took two other girls to pull Saban off of Grimes, the lawsuit claims.
Grimes' "temple had swollen to the size of a tennis ball" and Saban told her she had acted in self-defense because Grimes had thrown her into the door frame.
After a friend told Grimes she needed to go to the hospital to be checked out, "Kristen began hysterically crying louder and screaming, 'I'm going to jail!' over and over," according to the lawsuit.
Grimes was eventually diagnosed with an elbow contusion, a concussion, cervical strain, a headache and a deviated septum, according to the filing.
"The emergency physician informed Sarah that her injuries were very serious and could have been life-threatening," the lawsuit said.
Grimes told police that she did not want to press criminal charges against Saban and she allegedly plead guilty to an unnamed charge when the matter was submitted to Judicial Affairs at the University of Alabama.
According to the lawsuit, Saban was ordered to take psychological testing, anger management classes and have no contact with Grimes.
"As a result of the beating and the head injuries Sarah Grimes sustained by Kristen Saban, Sarah has had repeated night terrors, anxiety, physical trembling, fears of dying from brain injuries, trouble sleeping, and intrusive recollections of the event," according to the lawsuit.
Grimes is seeking a trial by jury and monetary damages, the amount of which is unspecified except for the qualification that it exceeds $10,000.
In a statement sent to ABCNews.com today, Saban's attorney Josh Hayes wrote, "Bob Prince and I are proud to represent Kristen Saban. We strongly dispute the allegations--and that's all they are at this point--made in the Complaint. We will vigorously defend Kristen and the truth will come out."
Hayes declined to comment further on the matter, but filed a motion to dismiss the claims on Thursday.
"The defendant denies each and every material allegation of the plaintiff's Complaint, demands strict proof thereof, and specifically denies that the plaintiff is entitled to recover damages from this defendant," Hayes wrote in his motion. "The defendant pleads that the plaintiff was the first aggressor in this incident and therefore she acted in self-defense."
In an email to ABCNews.com, University of Alabama director of media relations Cathy Andreen wrote, "Federal privacy laws prevent us from commenting on the lawsuit."