Projectile Stripping

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

Carrie Ritchie reports for the Indianapolis Star, 26 Feb 2011:

 

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110226/LOCAL1803/102260342/1001/NEWS05/A-slip-shoe-leads-lawsuit-against-strip-club?odyssey=nav%7Chead

 

An Indianapolis man is suing a Lawrence strip club, claiming he suffered "lifelong dental injuries" after a dancer's shoe flew off during a performance and hit him in the face.

 

Though the lawsuit might sound a bit outrageous, one tort law expert says the man might have a chance.

 

"I wouldn't bet my life that this would get dismissed immediately," said Andy Klein, a law professor at the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis.

 

According to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Marion Superior Court, 34-year-old Jake Quagliaroli was sitting about 20 feet from the stage at PT's Showclub, 7916 Pendleton Pike, earlier this month when a dancer's shoe flew off in the middle of her performance.

 

The shoe allegedly hit Quagliaroli in the face, chipping his front teeth.

 

He had to get veneers and temporary caps as a result of his injuries. The veneers will have to be replaced every 10 to 15 years, and he might need a root canal in the future, his attorney said.

 

He's claiming battery and negligence and is asking a jury to determine appropriate damages.

 

Ali Saeed, who's representing Quagliaroli, said the dancer, and by extension the nightclub, are responsible for the circumstances that led to his client's injuries.

 

He didn't know exactly what the dancer was doing when her shoe came off.

 

Quagliaroli doesn't frequent the nightclub and had no idea that he could be injured by watching the dancers, Saeed said.

 

If Quagliaroli can prove that dancers' shoes often fly off and that the club should've known it was a hazard, he might win his case, Klein said.

 

This case could be construed as similar to lawsuits brought against baseball teams over foul balls hitting spectators, Klein said. Some of those negligence suits succeeded, and that's part of the reason why most baseball fields have large screens behind home plate.

 

Bill Powers, who acts as PT's resident agent and reviews its lawsuits, said the club hasn't faced similar complaints in the five or more years he has worked with it.

 

Powers said he has never been to the club and couldn't comment on its policies or its rules regarding dancers' costumes.

 

He said the club's insurance company will handle this complaint.

 

Saeed said he wouldn't have filed the suit if he didn't think it could succeed. He encouraged people to look past the bizarre backstory and realize that Quagliaroli was simply a business patron who couldn't have anticipated his injuries.

 

"The fact is that he walked into someplace and wasn't anticipating injury, and walked out of there with chipped teeth and potentially lifelong dental injuries."