shaneo69
05-14-2006, 03:57 PM
By Sylvester Brown Jr.
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/14/2006
"I really need to talk to you! I am not in a good place!"
Lauren Risley's message didn't draw the response she expected from managers at America's Pub in West Port Plaza. It was a typical, packed Friday night. Risley, 22, was assigned to the bar's VIP room, where she single-handedly prepared and served drinks to the bar's more favored customers.
Bartenders in the club's isolated VIP room use cell phones to communicate with managers and alert bouncers when rowdy patrons needed to be escorted outside, Risley told me.
That night, Jan. 27 of this year, Risley said, one of the drinkers crossed the line. The man lewdly propositioned her, after ordering the first of many "Jager bombs," a combo of Jagermeister liqueur and the energy drink Red Bull, she said. She sent the message around midnight after she said the man slipped his hand down the back of her pants. Later, she said, he tried to kiss her and pull her on top of him.Advertisement
The man Risley accuses of repeated, unwanted sexual advances is no ordinary, out-of-control patron, he's Bill Maas - former NFL nose tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs, current Fox Sports commentator and part-owner of America's Pub.
Risley told me her story in the office of Clayton attorney Richard E. Banks, who recently filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against America's Pub. Maas shares ownership in the club with businessmen Greg Dill and George Kaufman.
The law firms representing the club and Maas deny any wrongdoing. Maas' lawyer, Kevin E.J. Regan of the Regan Law Firm in Kansas City, accused Risley and her attorney of seeking "something for nothing."
According to Risley's claim, all the owners, who were all at the club that night, were negligent, and managers became punitive after she complained.
"I'm tough. I can handle a lot," said Risley, a former St. Charles resident and a Francis Howell High School graduate. "I've played sports, and I hang out with guys. I know how they act. I know how they talk."
Risley had worked at other bars prior to her seven-month stint at America's Pub. She's accustomed to men crossing the line occasionally, she said, but Maas' actions went beyond that, she claims.
"He didn't care when I started to cry or when I told him to stop," she said. "It was like a game to him."
Maas followed her into the women's room, Risley said, attempting to unlatch the hook on the stall's door.
Another bar employee I talked to said she had seen Risley leave the bathroom in tears. She also remembers how "intoxicated" the former football player was that night.
Risley said her manager advised her to go home after the alleged bathroom incident. She sent him another text message during her drive home:
"I don't know what to do! I want out of my skin. I didn't get raped, but I may as well have . . ."
According to Banks and Risley, she received text messages the following day from Dill and Kaufman. They also showed me one jovial note allegedly sent from Maas: "Sorry I got (expletive) up! I'm suing the bartender for over-serving me."
Risley contacted Banks that same day. She said Dill and Kaufman had tried to talk her out of pursuing legal action. Banks showed me the document the men asked Risley to sign absolving them and the bar from any litigation she might pursue against Maas. She didn't sign it.
Risley, who earned nearly $700 for the four days she worked per week, said managers later rearranged her shift, assigning her to less-profitable nights. She quit in March.
Ira L. Blank, an attorney with Blumenfeld, Kaplan & Sandweiss, the firm representing America's Pub, said the owner's vehemently deny Risley's allegations in the EEOC claim. Ninety percent of such claims are found not to have merit, according to Blank.
Regan, Maas' lawyer, said Risley's allegations were unfounded. "We will vigorously defend and file whatever legal claims against (Risley) necessary to protect Mr. Maas' good name," Regan said.
He said he had commissioned the "top investigative firm in the Midwest" to check out Risley.
Banks said, "Character assassination is the first tactic of those accused of doing the sort of heinous things Mr. Maas has done." It will be difficult to tarnish his client, he said. Risley, a college student, owns her own home and has no criminal record and no history of lascivious behavior.
Martin Jansky, an attorney with the firm Rossiter & Jansky, told me he had interviewed other former employees who tell stories like Risley's.
One of those is Misty Miller-Roberson, who quit America's Pub in January after three months and is planning to file her own EEOC claim.
"There's lots of sexual harassment going on there," Miller-Roberson said.
Risley now works for a jazz club in West Port Plaza not far from America's Pub. She says she's hurt that Maas or the club's lawyers would think money is motivating her actions.
"I never asked for this. . . ," Risley said. "All I wanted to do was work and feel safe. My sense of security is gone, and no amount of money will ever give that back to me."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/sylvesterbrownjr/story/A503FCB8100D15958625716D00489855?OpenDocument
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/14/2006
"I really need to talk to you! I am not in a good place!"
Lauren Risley's message didn't draw the response she expected from managers at America's Pub in West Port Plaza. It was a typical, packed Friday night. Risley, 22, was assigned to the bar's VIP room, where she single-handedly prepared and served drinks to the bar's more favored customers.
Bartenders in the club's isolated VIP room use cell phones to communicate with managers and alert bouncers when rowdy patrons needed to be escorted outside, Risley told me.
That night, Jan. 27 of this year, Risley said, one of the drinkers crossed the line. The man lewdly propositioned her, after ordering the first of many "Jager bombs," a combo of Jagermeister liqueur and the energy drink Red Bull, she said. She sent the message around midnight after she said the man slipped his hand down the back of her pants. Later, she said, he tried to kiss her and pull her on top of him.Advertisement
The man Risley accuses of repeated, unwanted sexual advances is no ordinary, out-of-control patron, he's Bill Maas - former NFL nose tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs, current Fox Sports commentator and part-owner of America's Pub.
Risley told me her story in the office of Clayton attorney Richard E. Banks, who recently filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against America's Pub. Maas shares ownership in the club with businessmen Greg Dill and George Kaufman.
The law firms representing the club and Maas deny any wrongdoing. Maas' lawyer, Kevin E.J. Regan of the Regan Law Firm in Kansas City, accused Risley and her attorney of seeking "something for nothing."
According to Risley's claim, all the owners, who were all at the club that night, were negligent, and managers became punitive after she complained.
"I'm tough. I can handle a lot," said Risley, a former St. Charles resident and a Francis Howell High School graduate. "I've played sports, and I hang out with guys. I know how they act. I know how they talk."
Risley had worked at other bars prior to her seven-month stint at America's Pub. She's accustomed to men crossing the line occasionally, she said, but Maas' actions went beyond that, she claims.
"He didn't care when I started to cry or when I told him to stop," she said. "It was like a game to him."
Maas followed her into the women's room, Risley said, attempting to unlatch the hook on the stall's door.
Another bar employee I talked to said she had seen Risley leave the bathroom in tears. She also remembers how "intoxicated" the former football player was that night.
Risley said her manager advised her to go home after the alleged bathroom incident. She sent him another text message during her drive home:
"I don't know what to do! I want out of my skin. I didn't get raped, but I may as well have . . ."
According to Banks and Risley, she received text messages the following day from Dill and Kaufman. They also showed me one jovial note allegedly sent from Maas: "Sorry I got (expletive) up! I'm suing the bartender for over-serving me."
Risley contacted Banks that same day. She said Dill and Kaufman had tried to talk her out of pursuing legal action. Banks showed me the document the men asked Risley to sign absolving them and the bar from any litigation she might pursue against Maas. She didn't sign it.
Risley, who earned nearly $700 for the four days she worked per week, said managers later rearranged her shift, assigning her to less-profitable nights. She quit in March.
Ira L. Blank, an attorney with Blumenfeld, Kaplan & Sandweiss, the firm representing America's Pub, said the owner's vehemently deny Risley's allegations in the EEOC claim. Ninety percent of such claims are found not to have merit, according to Blank.
Regan, Maas' lawyer, said Risley's allegations were unfounded. "We will vigorously defend and file whatever legal claims against (Risley) necessary to protect Mr. Maas' good name," Regan said.
He said he had commissioned the "top investigative firm in the Midwest" to check out Risley.
Banks said, "Character assassination is the first tactic of those accused of doing the sort of heinous things Mr. Maas has done." It will be difficult to tarnish his client, he said. Risley, a college student, owns her own home and has no criminal record and no history of lascivious behavior.
Martin Jansky, an attorney with the firm Rossiter & Jansky, told me he had interviewed other former employees who tell stories like Risley's.
One of those is Misty Miller-Roberson, who quit America's Pub in January after three months and is planning to file her own EEOC claim.
"There's lots of sexual harassment going on there," Miller-Roberson said.
Risley now works for a jazz club in West Port Plaza not far from America's Pub. She says she's hurt that Maas or the club's lawyers would think money is motivating her actions.
"I never asked for this. . . ," Risley said. "All I wanted to do was work and feel safe. My sense of security is gone, and no amount of money will ever give that back to me."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/sylvesterbrownjr/story/A503FCB8100D15958625716D00489855?OpenDocument