Ben Roethlisberger Accused of Sexual Assault in Civil Lawsuit

[kelloggirl]

Suit claims Roethlisberger sexually assaulted woman (http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/pg/09202/985356-100.stm)

"An employee of Harrah's Lake Tahoe hotel in Nevada has claimed in a civil lawsuit that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her in his room last July while he was in town for a celebrity golf tournament.

The complaint, filed Friday in Washoe County, Nev., also names eight Harrah's employees accused of being part of a widespread cover-up in the Harrah's organization. They include the resort's president, security chief and other supervisors."

As a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, I sincerely hope that this is not true. I can admit my thinking may be biased because I don't want to believe it, but I don't know what to think about her filing a civil lawsuit rather than a filing a criminal complaint. I guess that maybe her thinking that at this point that it's too late for a criminal complaint and an actual trial there wouldn't be enough evidence?

Also, the allegations of coverup by the Harrah's employees are shocking. That they came to her house and erased evidence on her computers, and threatened her. That's pretty serious stuff.

[NatalieB]

Well, if anything was deleted from her computer, unless that particular part of the hard drive was written over, it will be NO problem to find it.

I concur about the civil suit verses a criminal suit. Maybe she's hoping that it will be settled to spare Ben his good name.

Ultimately, if he's guilty, he should be held accountable, but this seems a bit odd to me. It's hard to imagine that so many people would conspire to cover this up.

[Pat]

I read the PDF and find some of the verbiage strange.

I wonder, too, why she didn't sue Harrah's (the corporation), rather than the individuals. The alleged attack happened on their property and she claims Harrah's employees have been engaged in a conspiracy against her to protect Roethlisberger for a year. That seems at odds with protecting Harrah's good name, which will smeared by the allegations of their employee behavior.

I wonder if she ever told any of her doctors about this when she was hospitalized. If she did, why isn't it addressed in this suit.

As I'm not a follower of football, can anyone tell me if Roethlisberger has a reputation for bad behavior?

[cassidy]

I read the PDF and find some of the verbiage strange.

I wonder, too, why she didn't sue Harrah's (the corporation), rather than the individuals. The alleged attack happened on their property and she claims Harrah's employees have been engaged in a conspiracy against her to protect Roethlisberger for a year. That seems at odds with protecting Harrah's good name, which will smeared by the allegations of their employee behavior.

I wonder if she ever told any of her doctors about this when she was hospitalized. If she did, why isn't it addressed in this suit.

As I'm not a follower of football, can anyone tell me if Roethlisberger has a reputation for bad behavior?

I don't follow football either but my daughter does and she says no.

[Pat]

Thanks, cassidy.

After doing a search, it appears this made the news around July 21. For anyone who is "local"...how is this playing in Pittsburgh?

And for anyone who is familiar enough with the law, if there was no police investigation, she claims she told no one but the people she is suing, there is no evidence, why does her lawyer think they have a case?

The Kobe Bryant case got so appallingly nasty before it was all over...neither the accused or accuser came out of that untarnished. I hope that doesn't happen in this case.

[kelloggirl]

Thanks, cassidy.

After doing a search, it appears this made the news around July 21. For anyone who is "local"...how is this playing in Pittsburgh?

And for anyone who is familiar enough with the law, if there was no police investigation, she claims she told no one but the people she is suing, there is no evidence, why does her lawyer think they have a case?

The Kobe Bryant case got so appallingly nasty before it was all over...neither the accused or accuser came out of that untarnished. I hope that doesn't happen in this case.

To answer your first question, given that he is a HUGE hero in this town since he just brought us a Super Bowl, people are very very skeptical and not wanting to believe it. After a few weeks of discussion, the story has all but died down. Most people believe, or want to believe, she is just out for money or notoriety.

As for your second question, the burden of proof for civil litigation is much lower than for criminal prosecution. My guess is her lawyer is hoping that the embarassment and negative publicity associated with the suit will be sufficient to cause the parties to reach a settlement before it ever gets to court.

That's a great point about the computer hard drive. Deleted documents, or at least some evidence of them, can be found.

[Dogmatic]

And she reported this assault when?????

[NatalieB]

The only negative thing I've ever heard of from Big Ben was when he was in his motorcycle accident and didn't have a helmet on. It was stupid, there is no question about that (and he wasn't even at fault), but I have never heard of anything against him along these lines.

Until and unless this woman proves this, I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I hope if he's innocent that he doesn't, or isn't forced to settle.

It's 100% factual that Michael Jackson was forced to settle that first suit. The insurance company gave him no option. Look what that did for him? Too many people will assume Ben guilty AND it will open him to further suits in the future.