Ben Roethlisberger settles three year long rape lawsuit

Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, has finally settled his civil lawsuit that charged him of raping a woman at Lake Tahoe hotel casino in 2008. The attorney’s of both parties have maintained silence regarding the agreements made in the settlement, however confirming that all claims and counter claims have been fully resolved.

Andrea McNulty, a VIP hostess at the casino at Harrah’s first filed a suit in 2009, accusing Roethlisberger to have called her to his penthouse asking her to fix a broken television. Roethlisberger was in town to attend a celebrity golf tournament. Upon entering the suit he forced her to bed and sexually molested her. When she reported the incident to the security chief, she was told that the hotel’s president, John Koster was a friend of Roethlisberger and that she should be feeling lucky to have sex with someone like him. Afraid of losing the job at Harrah’s, McNulty said she filed for a civil suit instead of a criminal case.

Harrah’s and Roethlisberger’s attorneys denied all claims saying that lying about sex for money has never been a big deal for McNulty. Roethlisberger’s lawyer, David Cornwell, even presented a number of emails and witnesses in numerous court filings to prove that McNulty was an emotionally unstable woman.

McNulty claimed a minimum of $440,000 in damages form the quarter back, $50,000 from Harrah’s and an unspecified amount for taking the case to the court. Later on the claim was reduced to a few general and punitive damages along with $380,000 to seek treatment for the emotional distress she was dealing with after the rape. So far it remains unclear whether the settlement involved any monetary compensation or not.

Cornwell did not respond to telephone calls or emails to give out further details. The lawyers confirmed the news, saying that the Washoe District Court Judge Brent Adams formally dismissed the case on Dec 27, but neither side had publicized it until now. Twice the Nevada Supreme Court ruled against the quarterback’s request of moving the case from Reno to Carson City since it was close to the place the alleged incident took place.

In 2010, a similar incident took place, when Roethlisberger sexually assaulted a 20 year old college student while he was heavily drunk. The authorities investigated the incident, but the quarterback succeeded in escaping the charges. The NFL suspended Roethlisberger for the next six games on violating terms of conduct policy.