Britney Spears sued by backup dancer: Singer broke my nose, suit says

A dancer whose nose was allegedly broken by Britney Spears during a music-video rehearsal has filed a lawsuit claiming Spears' representatives reneged on an offer to pay her medical bills.

Dawn Noel Pignuola, who dances as Dawn Noel, sued Spears and her management company on Monday in Los Angeles, reported the Courthouse News Service. The nine-page complaint claims that during rehearsals for the "Work [expletive]" music video on Aug. 19, "a disheveled and confused" Spears arrived for her part in the choreography. Though the dance moves were "fairly basic," the complaint reads, "she was having difficulty learning the moves, performing dance steps and following simple directions."

After about a half-hour, Noel was standing near Spears when the singer twirled in an "unbalanced" and "reckless" manner and accidentally backhanded Noel in the face, says the complaint. "The other dancers heard a cracking sound which they immediately knew to be the sound of plaintiff's nose breaking." Spears "said 'sorry' and then continued to attempt to learn the dance routine."

Noel says she continued rehearsing until she "could no longer stand the pain and had to leave to go see a doctor," who found the dancer's nose fractured and advised surgery. The suit says that "representatives for Britney Spears and Reign Deer Entertainment promised to pay for . . . [her] medical bills," but "after months of waiting for defendants to come through with their promise, and making certain that this incident did not become public knowledge to protect the privacy of all involved, defendants' representative then advised that they would not pay for any of plaintiff's medical treatment."

Spears' spokesman did not return a Newsday request for comment.