Donald Trump’s lawsuit against media company Univision has hit a small bump in the road, due to a busy court schedule.
This is the legal tussle that stems from Trump’s “rapists” comments about undocumented immigrants from Mexico, following which Univision terminated its contractual relationship (including television broadcast obligations) with the Trump-backed Miss Universe Organization. The official charges include breach of contract and defamation, with Trump and the Miss Universe Organization seeking more than $2 billion in damages.
Univision has said it plans to file for a dismissal of the lawsuit, and was supposed to file its formal response by today. But the particular court where this case is being heard requires a pre-motion conference to occur before a motion to dismiss is filed, but the court had no available time for such a meeting prior to today’s deadline. Instead, the pre-motion conference has been scheduled for Sept. 14.
After Univision files its motion to dismiss, Trump will have 45 days to respond.
Private equity-backed Univision originally filed to go public just days after Trump’s suit was filed, and did not make mention of it in its original IPO documents. In an amended filing, however, it added this note:
On June 30, 2015, Miss Universe LP and Donald J. Trump filed a complaint against UCI in New York State Supreme Court in connection with UCI’s decision to end its business relationship with the Miss Universe organization as result of Mr. Trump’s remarks about Mexican immigrants, among other things. On July 10, 2015, UCI removed the case to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint contains claims for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with contractual relationships, and defamation. UCI believes that it has meritorious defenses to these claims, and UCI intends to vigorously defend them and pursue any counterclaims. UCI does not believe that the ultimate outcome of such litigation will have a material adverse effect on UCI’s business, financial condition or results of operations.
Trump yesterday referenced the suit during a press conference confrontation with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos.
