Plaintiff’s attorney issues statement on Bills’ release of Matt Araiza

“The Buffalo Bills had no choice but to cut their young punter after so badly botching their response to our claim: they ignored us, as though what I warned them would happen could be avoided if they just kept their heads in the sand. This is what enablers do.

My client’s life was forever scarred in October 2021, but she handled herself with grace and dignity. Not once did she express to me a desire to hurt her assaulters out of revenge or hatred. She never asked for a pound of flesh. Her only ask was the kind of justice that might save other young women from the hell she experienced.

When she authorized me to contact Matt Araiza and the other defendants, she made it clear that money was not her aim. She never asked for a dime from Matt Araiza. Mr. Araiza’s attorney knew that. He knew that he had offered us money to settle the case and that we had rejected the offer. Yet, Mr. Araiza’s legal counsel had the audacity to go on a despicable, brainless tv tour to defame my client as a ‘shakedown’ artist and ‘money grabber.’ Think about that. Mr. Araiza’s legal agent knew that a 17-year-old girl had left a room where Matt Araiza was also present, covered in blood and bruises and crying that she had been raped. Yet, he stooped so low that he was willing to label that the 17-year-old girl an opportunistic grifter. This was utterly inhumane and stunningly foolish. If Matt Araiza had shown 1% of the grace that my client has, perhaps by offering an apology and donation his money to a charity serving rape survivors, he would still be a Buffalo Bill and his parents could sit in the stands and watch their son with pride. Instead, he decided to hire an attorney who knew only to viciously attack the young woman his client had raped. Now Mr. Araiza’s life is forever scarred too. Perhaps this is the self-inflicted justice he deserves.”