RENO, Nev. — A woman has filed a lawsuit accusing Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of raping her last summer in his penthouse room at a casino in Lake Tahoe during a celebrity golf tournament. Roethlisberger’s lawyer adamantly denied the allegations Tuesday.
The claim seeks at least $390,000 in damages from the quarterback, who has won two Super Bowls and is one of the biggest names in sports. The lawsuit also alleges hotel officials for Harrah’s Lake Tahoe went to great lengths to cover up the incident.
Teresa Duffy, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office in Douglas County, which includes part of Lake Tahoe, said no complaints were filed about such an incident either with sheriff’s deputies or the district attorney’s office.
The woman’s lawsuit says she didn’t file a criminal complaint because she feared she would be fired and expected Harrah’s would side with Roethlisberger.
The woman said she had been promoted from VIP shift manager and was working as an executive casino host when Roethlisberger struck up a friendly conversation at her desk during the golf tournament.
The next day, July 11, 2008, she said he telephoned her to tell her his television sound system wasn’t working and asked her to look at it.
She said she was unable to find a technician so she decided to handle it herself because she had been told how important it was to please celebrities.
In Roethlisberger’s room she said she determined the TV was functioning properly but as she turned to leave but the 6-foot-5, 240-pound quarterback stood in front of the door and blocked her, the suit claims.
The lawsuit said he then grabbed her and started to kiss her.
“But instead of stopping, Roethlisberger began fondling plaintiff through her dress and between her legs,” the suit said. He then “held her against her will and physically moved plaintiff and pushed her onto his bed” where he raped her, the suit says.
She told him,“I am not on any type of birth control.”
Poster Comment:
Sports radio talk show hosts are saying that the bigger story here is that every major network is reporting this story, yet ESPN has not reported a word. ESPN is owned by Disney whose head is jewish Michael Eisner. is Roethlisberger jewish? *and* i believe that Eisner attends CFR meetings.
