Civil Lawsuit Filed Against Ben Roethlisberger

[KillerKat]

watch him settle this case for a few million, then see how many come out of the woodwork asking for more.

If more come out and accuse him then I'd say its a safe assumption to think he did it. Just like with MJ after 1990, 7 more kids since then accused him.

[User Name]

Well I disagree, it's still a big deal, I don't know why, but it seems to be so. I haven't looked at color since the '70s, hell, I've never looked at it, I was raised better than that, but I just never had much dealings with other races until I was in HS. But there's no doubt it's still relevant. Should it be, no, but it is. I treat everyone the same, with respect and congeniality, until they show me they don't deserve it and then they get the other end...

I guess I say that because of the world I live in. When I look around not only is the black culture accepted it's celebrated. In fact if anything my southern culture is what's considered shameful. Most of our athletic hero's are black, more and more of our cultural hero's are as well. Maybe I'm naive or even insensitive, but I feel the playing field has came close to leveling.

I have no problem with that, I fully understand how the world is changing.

Just my point of view judge it how you will.

[KillerKat]

gee...I dunno...so if you are married it's rape...if you are single it's ok? Ummm...no....where is KT...I argue against him so much but he's onto something!

You totally missed my point. I said people were upset Kobe admitted to cheating on his wife.

[Skew]

wow...can't believe a few things....can't believe Skew put this in the wrong forum....

It's still the off season so it's okay here, Mr. Nit Picky Poo.

[Mr. Scot]

My personal opinion: I think ESPN's reluctance has a lot more to do with the color of his jersey than the color of his skin.

ESPN has too many high profile black employees for me to buy into the racial angle, plus they've done a pretty good job of covering white embarrassments like Roger Clemens.

But team favoritism? That's another story.

With teams like the Cowboys, Patriots, Yankees, Red Sox and yes...the Lakers, you can't lose regardless of whether the story is positive or negative. There are equal amounts of love and hate in the general populace. Thus, positive or negative stories generate equal ratings and/or approval.

The Steelers? While I'll grant that I find elements of their fanbase annoying, generally speaking they're looked on favorably by the majority of the public. ESPN will probably get their fair share of hate for covering this story.

To be clear, that's an explanation, not an excuse. I think they should cover this with just as much vigor as they would anyone else.

UPDATE: Catching up on the stories, Florio's take...

Is ESPN trying to preserve its relationship with Roethlisberger?

My notion was that they might be trying not to piss off Steeler nation. Florio's is that they'd like to avoid pissing off Roethlisberger himself. I'd still throw the fans in the mix too, but the direct connection might make more sense.

This from Florio also (link)

We say this because we're convinced that the Roethlisberger story initially was ignored due to concerns that ESPN would be jeopardizing its access to the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, who also happens to play for the team with the most loyal and rabid fan base in America.

[Scrumtrilescent]

As a honkey, it's good to know I can throw a hag out of my hotel room and not get media blasted for it.

[Jase]

all you had to do was ask me to leave.

[Skew]

This story is getting stranger.

Complaint in Roethlisberger case alleges huge coverup by coworkers

Posted by Tom Curran on July 21, 2009 7:05 PM ET

We've previously addressed the crux of the claims made by Andrea McNulty against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

But there's a separate aspect to this case that Florio didn't have time to get to on Tuesday as he was talking to pretty much every radio station in the country and appearing on Keith Olbermann's favorite cable news network.

The rest of the complaint details an alleged coverup by McNulty's co-workers and superiors at Harrah's Lake Tahoe, along with the physical and emotional distress McNulty experienced after the alleged incident.

The most pointed accusations by McNulty are directed at Guy Hyder, Chief of Security at Harrah's Lake Tahoe, and John Koster, Harrah's Northern Nevada President.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc., is not named as a defendant in the suit.

The complaint states that Koster's valued friendship with Roethlisberger was something he often boasted of and that Hyder, when told of the alleged assault by McNulty, said that McNulty was overreacting.

Hyder also allegedly said "most girls would feel lucky to get to have sex with someone like Ben Roethlisberger" that "Koster would love you even more if he knew about this" and that "Koster would suck his d--k if Roethlisberger let him."

Last August, soon after the alleged assault, a co-worker warned McNulty that if she ever let on to knowing Roethlisberger, Koster would "personally fire you for starting rumors about Roethlisberger's personal life."

The complaint states that, because "Harrah's and its personnel, particularly Hyder and Koster would side with and support Roethlisberger" she did not go to the police and attempted to deal with the situation on her own. In late September, early October and again in November, McNulty was hospitalized for depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. She had lost 30 pounds.

The complaint says that, in the fall of 2008, Hyder "entered into contact with Plaintiff's parents, stating falsely that the reason for Plaintiff's breakdown was the cessation of a Plaintiff's e-mail correspondence with a young man and omitting all reference to and concealing the sexual assault that had taken place on July 11, 2008."

This aligns with TMZ report from earlier in the day, which cited a source who claimed that McNulty had an e-mail relationship with what she believed was a U.S. soldier stationed in Iraq but that the "soldier" was actually the wife of a man with whom McNulty allegedly had a relationship. The TMZ report claims that McNulty was distraught when those e-mails ceased, and that she told others that the soldier had been killed in action.

According to the complaint, Hyder convinced McNulty to give her a key to her home so that he could check on her during her convalesence but "entered her home and on information belief without her knowledge proceeded to examine and remove and alter the content of and the file or files and information on her work laptop computer and to remove her computer which was done without her knowledge and understanding and was done for the purpose of providing the information to Harrah's and for their own Defendants' purposes."

The claim also states that Harrah's Entertainment Inc. looked into McNulty's complaint in April of 2009 and performed interviews with a number of the defendants but that the resulting interviews were a collection of "character assassination." It's also alleged that requests for any surveillance tapes have been "ignored or denied."

Our messages left for Hyder and Koster have not been returned. A Harrah's spokesman, Jacqueline Peterson, said this afternoon that, "We don't have a comment and don't comment on pending legal matters."

She had no information on whether the defendants would be represented by Harrah's legal people or would be retaining their own attorneys.

McNulty's lawyer, Calvin Dunlap, also declined comment. When asked if there was any reason why not, he said, "Yeah, we try our cases in court, not in the media."

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/07/21/reference-made-to-the-tmz/

[PhillyB]

weird weird weird.

[Mr. Scot]

weird weird weird.

Yes, but also credible, especially given the circumstances.

If it's strictly about money, why would you not also sue Harrahs? All of those employees combined wouldn't have anywhere close to the money that their Vegas employer would have. And it's common practice for harrassment suits to also name the employer for "allowing a hostile work environment".

[MadHatter]

PFT suggests that ESPN isn't reporting it because Ben is in one of the biggest markets and don't want to upset the fan base and Big Ben in case they need an exclusive.

Nothing else really makes sense. I can't think of another reason.

If that is truly their reasoning, then ESPN has proven they have sunk to Tabloid Press status.

Screw ESPN....that is why I have DirecTV....to get NFL Network.

[powellj1]

The complaint says she lost 30 lbs, now if she only got braces she might look like someone that Ben might want to bang!

[DaCityKats]

i have twc and im on day 2 of my fug espn.i guess i won't be watching until we play on there( and other football games).

[Hawk]

You totally missed my point. I said people were upset Kobe admitted to cheating on his wife.

yup...I did miss that point...ok

my point was though...the Kobe thing had and still has alot more negativity rolling with it than this has. In many many people's eyes, Kobe was and still is guilty!