Thabo Sefolosha, the NBA star who missed this year's playoffs after New York police officers broke his leg, has taken the first step towards suing the city for his injuries, his attorney told BuzzFeed News on Wednesday.
Sefolosha, a Swiss-born player for the Atlanta Hawks, was arrested and injured outside a Manhattan nightclub early in the morning of April 8 on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. A jury found him not guilty of all charges on Oct. 9. The NYPD's Internal Affairs department is investigating whether the officers involved in the arrest acted inappropriately.
The NBA star has not yet sued the city, but he has filed a notice of claim — a legal document indicating his intentions to seek $50 million damages.
"In order to preserve Mr. Sefolosha’s rights, a Notice of Claim had to be filed within 90 days," Alex Spiro, the NBA player's attorney, told BuzzFeed News in an email. "Now that Mr. Sefolosha has been vindicated, he will make a decision on how to proceed.”
A notice of claim allows the city to offer to settle the matter out of court, but Sefolosha retains the right to take the issue to court.
Although Sefolosha is playing again, his notice claims he suffered "permanent" physical injuries. His attorney said that the NBA star's return to the court does not mean he wasn't permanently injured.
“Unfortunately he may not be dunking as much as he was before this happened,” Spiro said in an email.
A spokesperson for New York's Office of the Comptroller, the agency that handles notices of claim, said all claims are reviewed on their merits.