CINCINNATI >> A judge has dismissed an assault charge against Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga after learning the dispute was settled in mediation.

Maualuga was charged with misdemeanor assault after an employee at a downtown bar told police that the middle linebacker punched him in the face on Feb. 5. The case was referred to mediation.

Maualuga appeared briefly in Hamilton County Municipal Court on Thursday for an update. Judge Heather S. Russell dismissed the case after prosecutors said neither Maualuga nor the bar employee wanted to pursue the matter.

The linebacker still faces possible punishment from the NFL. The league fined him two games checks and made him forfeit part of his signing bonus in 2010 after he pleaded guilty to drunken driving.