 On August 17, 2013, Braun was sued for fraud and defamation by Ralph Sasson, a former close friend with whom Braun attended middle school, high school, and college at the University of Miami. In the lawsuit, Sasson, who claims to be a law student, alleges that he assisted Braun in his original arbitration resulting from a positive drug test in 2011 and that afterwards, Braun refused to pay him. Sasson also alleges that Braun's use of performance-enhancing drugs dates back to Braun's days at the University of Miami. After filing the suit, Braun's attorneys attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed, but in January 2014, a Milwaukee County judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit. In June 2014, the lawsuit was dismissed by presiding Judge Paul R. Van Grunsven citing Sasson's "egregious" misconduct and bad faith throughout the pre-trial process. In January 2014, the judge granted a motion to seal the entire case and ordered Sasson to not speak about the case in any respect whatsoever. After the case was dismissed, Sasson posted a portion of his own videotaped deposition on YouTube. Sasson's actions prompted Braun and his attorneys to motion the court to have Sasson held in contempt. On July 23, 2014, Sasson was arrested outside of the courtroom after a hearing on Braun's contempt motion. Roughly 3 weeks later, the Milwaukee County District Attorney notified Sasson that no contempt charges would be filed as Sasson's YouTube posting was not in violation of any law or valid court order. Sasson has appealed the decision to dismiss the case. On appeal, Sasson argued that he never acted in bad faith and never violated the seal order; that the seal order violated his First Amendment rights by placing "prior restraints" on his "pure speech"; and that the seal order was "instituted in violation of Sasson's due process." Braun responded by arguing that Sasson waived his First Amendment right to free speech and his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. In June 2015 the appeals court ruled that the dismissal was properly exercised due to the fact that Sasson had never provided evidence that Braun had made disparaging remarks in writing.
