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Complaint in Roethlisberger case alleges huge coverup by coworkers
Posted by Sheil Kapadia 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 **** 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."
Posted by Sheil Kapadia 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 **** 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."
