Lawsuit claims guards at Little Darlings Las Vegas strip club attacked man in 2014
A 26-year-old Henderson man is suing Little Darlings Las Vegas, alleging the strip club’s security guards attacked him two years ago.
Matthew T. Gates filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Clark County District Court against the business and several unidentified security guards.
According to the complaint, Gates arrived at Little Darlings about midnight on July 25, 2014, with his brother and cousin. Several security guards approached his brother about three hours later, according to the document, and Gates stood up to ask them what was going on.
Security guards then grabbed Gates and pinned him against a raised stage nearby, the lawsuit alleges. As Gates tried to escape the guards’ grips, they threw him to the ground and “violently punched, kicked, choked and/or stomped” on him, according to the document.
The lawsuit alleges that Gates had to seek medical treatment for injuries to “the tissues, bones and joints of his body” but did not give details of those injuries.
Claims in the lawsuit include battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and false imprisonment. Gates also accused Little Darlings of negligent hiring, training and supervision, and “retaining incompetent employees.”
Matthew Hoffer, a spokesman for Little Darlings, said Thursday afternoon that the company does not comment on ongoing litigation but that Gates’ claims of negligent employee training “smack of boilerplate allegations.” He questioned Gates’ knowledge of the strip club’s training policies.
“The only information I can provide at this time is that Metro was called and Mr. Gates was turned over to the police when they arrived,” Hoffer wrote in an email.
Las Vegas police records show that officers responded to an “assault/battery” at the strip club at 2:19 a.m. the day of the alleged attack. Police were not immediately available for comment on the outcome of the call.
Gates and his attorneys, who did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, are seeking general and punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Follow @lauxkimber on Twitter.
