John ‘Junior’ Gotti’s daughter, wife sued over high school basketball game altercation last year, court records show

An Upper Brookville family is suing the daughter and wife of John “Junior” Gotti, the former acting boss of the Gambino crime family, over an altercation during a high school basketball game last February in Nassau County, according to federal court records.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 7, seeks tens of millions of dollars from Gianna Gotti and her mother, Kimberly — and the Locust Valley school district, which the suit alleges failed to prevent the attack or break it up once it started.

The Gottis were arrested and charged Feb. 8, 2024, for allegedly beating and kicking one of the plaintiffs, Crystal Etienne, at the Locust Valley High School gym during a game against Oyster Bay High School.

Etienne claimed the Gottis yelled antigay, anti-Black and other taunts at players and teenagers in the stands. She asked them to stop, and, according to a complaint, the Gottis went on the attack.

“At that point I felt my hair being pulled and felt my wig come off, which was held on by three clips and Velcro,” Etienne said in the complaint. “I allowed my head to go back because I felt as though my scalp was going to be ripped off and I observed the lady in the gray jacket pulling my hair.”

The altercation “resulted in physical injury and emotional distress … as the attack … was vicious, public and witness[ed] by many of those persons who [were] in attendance. Further, it was recorded and disseminated through social media,” the suit says.

Last year, the misdemeanor assault case against the Gottis was dismissed.

The Gottis’ lawyer Gerard Marrone, of Middle Village, Queens, said the plaintiff was the aggressor, and that the Gottis plan to countersue. He denied that his clients used any slurs.

“She started the fight. She was acting erratic at the incident,” he said, adding: “We have so much impeachment material against her that we were gonna use for the criminal trial, but I got the criminal charges dismissed, so now that she’s bringing this action, we’re gonna just use it to impeach her in the civil action.”

An outside spokeswoman for the school district, Deirdre Gilligan, declined to comment. Kimberly Gotti declined to comment Saturday. None of the other parties could be reached for comment.