Man wins $650k for stripper shoe eye snafu

A South Florida man is $650,000 richer after successfully suing a strip club, having been injured when a lap dancer poked him in the eye with a stiletto (heel). Michael Ireland was left with a punctured eye socket, broken facial bones and permanent double vision after the 2008 incident at the Cheetah club in West Palm Beach. …

[Cunningly Linguistic]

That's...

...one in the eye for the people making money out of sex workers.

[jake]

What a heel ...

The author, that is. Platforms are not stilettos ... Ms Bee, kindly educate the perp ;-)

[Sarah Bee]

Re: What a heel ...

Why would you think I automatically know about shoes, Jake?

You can get platform stilettos. The platform bit is at the front. The stiletto bit is at the back. I know this not because I'm a girl and obsessed with shoes but because I have sufficient awareness of the world, and of shoes, to figure this out. And also Google told me.

I was going to post a link here but I didn't want y'all to get too het up.

[jake]

Heel, part 2.

Not because you're a girl, Ms Bee ... But rather because you're the moderator, and in theory have access to the writer. Try to keep the sexism to a minimum, m'kay?

I didn't know about the platform/stiletto hybrid. Ta for the info, not that I'll ever use it ...

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Heel, part 2.

I do have access to the writer, but I wasn't going to pass on your admonishment because it was incorrect, as you know. And I do take your point.

I'll forgive you anyway, sweetie, because that little get-up you've got on today makes you look so fine, hubba hubba.

[jake]

Let's see, it was about 6:30AM my time ... What was I wearing ...

If Levis 501s, a work shirt & steel toed boots turn you on, I hope your .sig other is either a blue-collar worker, a lesbian, or a skin-head ... Regardless, I sincerely hope you let 'em know how marvelous they look on a regular basis. It's kinda important in any relationship ...

Seriously, I never knew about the hybrid shoes. Platforms, to me, are what KISS wears, or Disco Boots, or possibly Bob Dylan's high-healed sneakers (dating myself, I know). Stilettos are what we call CFMs around these here parts ... Hybridizing them, to me, is fairly pointless. And possibly dangerous for day to day life.

The wife, reading over my shoulder, says "think porn" ... ::hits metacrawler:: ... Oh. So I'm clueless ... 2-D, vision only images (+/- sound) never did anything for me. :-)

Apologies for starting this thread.

[Russ Tarbox]

Well now

at least he's well heeled

[Russ Tarbox]

Just goes to show

you can't dance around the law

[Bonce]

Permanent double vision can't be much fun

But I bet he heels better with $650k in his pocket

[Thomas 4]

$650,000....

Well, it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp object.

[Noons]

@Thomas4

You, sir, owe me a new keyboard...

[Spot the Cat]

Am I the only one

to have read her name as Sakeena Shagger?

[dr_forrester]

And don't you think...

...that that might have been exactly what was on the mind(s) of those who invented the pseudonym?

[Cameron Colley]

Sounds fair enough to me.

If someone slapped a barmaid on the arse when she was collecting glasses so she smashed a bottle over my head, leading to permanent injury of a type which would make it difficult to work then I would expect to be paid compensation. The fact she was a stripper should have no bearing on anything.

@jake Some stilettos come with a platform on the front part of the sole also, so that the heel can be even longer -- no idea how I know that.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not sure...

I see it as self defence to sexual harassment. It's not like she intended to see permanent damage done.

[Stoneshop]

Self defense?

The way I read the story, someone else, not the eyepokee, slapped the stripper.

[Sean O'Connor 1]

Title

Why is it the strip club's fault?

[Lottie]

I should think

that unless the dancer was a sub contractor, she would be considered bart of the entity of "the club".

A bit like if you catch a bug from a fast food worker gobbing in your burger, you sue the chain.

[Matt_payne666]

the clubs fault...

much the same way that if I was assulted by a member of staff at Tesco, then I would sue Tesco, not the staff member in question...

I guess the bar has a 'no touching' policy, in which case, miss ass shaker now needs to sue the bloke directly for the assult on her, to which she only acted in self defence...

[DavCrav]

Self defence?

"to which she only acted in self defence..."

Just wondering how violently you have to have your arse slapped to consider stabbing someone in the face to be self defence? (Also, is it not clear that he was the one who slapped her?)

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Self defence?

It sounds like a reflexive thing rather than a calculated defence. Think about it. This would all have happened very quickly.

I didn't immediately swing a punch when something similar happened to me but I'd understand it if someone else reacted that way.

[Ihre Papiere Bitte!!]

@ Sarah 1440

"I didn't immediately swing a punch when something similar happened to me but I'd understand it if someone else reacted that way."

Yeah, sorry about that....

(I ducked in preparation of the slap and everything!)

[Sarah Bee]

Re: @ Sarah 1440

You wouldn't have had a happy time of it. I was very, very angry.

[Anonymous Coward]

angry

And rightly so.

But where were you lapdancing?

[DavCrav]

I see it's a reflex

I understand maybe why she did that (although it's not a reflex unless she's already holding the shoe of course), but just because it's a "reflex" doesn't mean you don't get held accountable for it.

At any rate, I wasn't commenting on her actions, but on the earlier comment that it was "only" self defence. Reflex, maybe. Self defence, no.

[Sean O'Connor 1]

Another title

> much the same way that if I was assulted by a member of staff at Tesco, then I would sue Tesco, not the staff member in question..

Well, I totally disagree with you. Again, I don't see why it's Tesco's fault if one of their employees goes a bit loopy. If it's Tesco's policy to teach their staff to assault customers then yes it's Tesco's fault.

What if it was a little corner shop and not Tesco where someone gets assaulted? I guess the poor owner of that shop would lose the business he's been building up all his life.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmm.

The fact that it occurred in the strip club, and the stripper was an employee of the strip may be a hint.

[TeeCee]

Re: Title

Because his lawyers reckon the club's more likely to have 650 grand than the dancer?

She could have a problem here. Strip club owners aren't exactly renowned for their sensitivity, respect for the law and ability to accept misfortune gracefully. She may find someone from the less reputable end of the debt-collection business reclaiming 650 large ones out of her hide in a dark alley sometime soon.

[Anonymous Coward]

Strip clubs are for married guys and wimps,...

who are too afraid to simply pay outright for real sex. They cost a fortune for booze and dances and deliver little real satisfaction.

If you want to drink, go to a pub. If you want sex, pay a hooker 60 quid for half an hour's attention (extras cost for some, but the better ones will go all-in for that amount)

Paris cos, well....

[Anonymous Coward]

How do you know so much?

and what's their number?

[phil 27]

The title box is a load of cōleī

Strip clubs are for end of contract pishups, first somewhere pc for everyone then the boys onward to the lapdancing outfit when pished, where you can all be naughty within limits, but not wake up with some or something unfortunate/blackmail photos etc.

Been there got the tee, and my mrs asked them to take me there to "get me ready and prepped to fly home, but in a controlled way"!

[Anonymous Coward]

@Sounds fair enough to me

> If someone slapped a barmaid on the arse when she was collecting glasses ...

in the UK they'd be found guilty of the offence of "unwanted contact" and get themselves on the sex offenders register - there was an article by a solicitor (that would be lawyer to an American readers) complaining that a client of his was now a "sex offender" as he'd patted a girls bottom as he walked past in a student bar saying "nice arse" and as a result had ended up in court and on the sex offenders register for 5 years.

Meanwhile in the UK you only get £24k for being kneed in the head by the local mayor!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20101015/tuk-tomato-stunt-costs-council-24000-6323e80.html

[Cameron Colley]

Probably too late now.

But in reply to AC above and others who may not have read my post properly.

I said "If someone" not "if I" -- this woman kicked a man in the face because an unknown person slapped her behind -- in fact, the story even suggests that her victim was not the perpetrator.

I do have some sympathy for the woman -- but that doesn't change the fact she seriously assaulted someone who had done nothing to her (if the story is to be believed).

[Red Bren]

So it's true?

You'll go blind...

[Alex C]

Sounds like he got more than an eyeful...

It doesn't say whether he admitted to smacking her bottom or not.

[Anonymous Coward]

@13.47

Exactly right!!

Strippers should also start paying tax. (Thinking about the bint that is currently suing stringfellows).

[JaitcH]

Me thinks the lawyers got more than the victim

Lawyers in the U.S. often taken on court cases on a "No win, no pay" basis and the lawyers cut in a successful case is often greater than the victims.

Would you rather have normal vision or a miserly $325,000 for your pain and suffering?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm just guessing here

But I suspect he'll be permanently banned from that establishment. they can't afford to have that kind of customer.

[Anonymous Coward]

About time

We had another Play mobile re-enactment; and I think this story would be ideal; although I must admit I fail to see the IT angle.

Beer - to keep me cool while watching the hot ladies dancing. :-)

[RichardB]

Of all the stories out today

THIS is the one that really cries out for Lego reenactment...

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks to me to be a case of "American Blind Justice"!!!!!!!!!

You know, where Officer Opee looked at the Judge and his seeing eye dog and then at the pictures with the circles and arrows.

"You can't anthing you want at the West Palm Beach Cheetah Club, except Sakeena"

Sincerest Apologies to Alices' Restaraunt and Arlo Guthrie, God rest his soul.

[Anonymous Coward]

And a paragraph on the back of each one.

nice.

[Dan P]

Did he not think...

...that if you slap a half naked girl really hard on the arse when your face is at her foot-level then you're likely to get a face full of shoe? Strippers aren't renowned for wearing soft, fluffy slippers either, so I'm not surprised at the, imho wholly deserved, damage!

[Oninoshiko]

WTF?

ok so person you dont know next to you slaps stripper's butt, and you think she should kick you? The fine article said SOMEONE slapped her, at no point did it it was this guy. I cannot image any situation where i would be walking around in a crowd naked, get my butt slapped and have any idea who it was... think about it for a minute.

Then again, I do make it a point to avoid walking around naked in crowds...

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder...

Will this verdict have an impact on the Cheetah in Atlanta?

[Anonymous Coward]

So, why was he there...

...unless he WANTED to cop an eyeful.

[Henry Wertz 1]

further litigation?

@Davcrav, she was table dancing, so this was a kick not picking her shoe up to slap someone in the eye with it.

anyway.. *further* litigation? Really? He's won, what else does he expect to get? Sue the shoe maker?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why wasn't she arrested

I want to know why she wasn't arrested and thrown in prison. If I kicked someone in the head half blinding them in the process I'm sure I'd be doing several years in the slammer.

This will have taught her only one thing, it's ok to kick someone in the head and cause major injuries, so long as you're a woman you will get away with it.

[Velv]

Utter Tosh

You're talking utter rubbish. How do you know she wasn't arrested?

It is highly likely the police and the DA were involved, and decided either there was no case to answer, or there wasn't enough evidence. Since I'm at work I can't go trawling the web looking for articles on "south florida strippers" to find the relevant news articles from the time.

You clearly have a anti-feminism complex given your comments and the fact you remain anonymous. And that's coming from another man!

As an aside, I wonder how much the guys wife will get in the divorce settlement after finding out he was visiting strip clubs :)

[ravenviz]

Double vision

So does this mean that when he watches a 3D movie he either a) doesn't need the glasses, b) sees it in 1D or c) can see behind things no-one else can?

<- red / green lensed glasses in the pocket

[Anonymous Coward]

@Daggersedge

Assuming you are UK based that is bang on correct, we have some fairly whacky self defense laws and practioners of Martial Art such as us (rather than failing at Marital arts like Mr One in the Eye) have even fewer excuse allowed.

US Self Defence laws are I understand a tad different. A friend on the East Coast has stabbed someone with her comb because "she felt threatened" but this was considered fine and dandy as "self defence" because (as I understand it) if she HADN'T stabbed the guy (non fatally I must point out) and he HAD been an attacker rather than some dumb ass who walked to close behind her, then she'd have been hurt.

From one extreme to the other....

I'm also with the "further litigation wtf???" brigade. What else is there to litigate for/against????