Nightclub guard disputes lawsuit claims
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***image1***Everyone likes a David and Goliath story. The scrawny underdog cracks some burly Philistine skull. The puny runt gives his tormentor the Mother of all Wedgies. The meek inherit the Earth.
Bravo. Well done. Pass the popcorn.
Unfortunately, things aren't that simple when it isn't clear who's the hero and who's the villain. Last week, local dailies reported that a lawsuit was filed June 2 in Santa Fe County's First Judicial Court in which Elizabeth Bolla and Steven Shigley are diminutive Davids and Swig nightclub-along with its management and security personnel-are glowering Goliaths.
The lawsuit charges 10 defendants-including Swig co-owner Robert Hall and security guards Ralph Lopez and Barbara Varela-with offenses ranging from assault and battery to negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The allegations stem from an April 18, 2004 incident in which Bolla and Shigley were forcibly removed from Swig after clashing with personnel from the club's security firm, Gryphon Group Protective Services. Attorney Charlie Firth says his clients-Bolla and Shigley-were assaulted without provocation.
"These are not the sort of people who get in trouble," Firth says. "She's a schoolteacher and he's a fireman. They weren't looking to pick a fight. They were just trying to celebrate their friend's birthday party."
Goliath begs to differ. After contacting defendants in the case, SFR was told a different version of the story than has been widely reported.
"They instigated the whole thing," Lopez says. "What we did was perfectly reasonable. Nothing was excessive. We were well within our job duties."
The trouble began after the plaintiffs and an unnamed female friend-whose birthday the trio was celebrating-entered Swig around midnight. Bolla "briefly alighted" the steps to the DJ booth while dancing. She was reproached by Varela, who subsequently confronted Bolla and Shigley by the bar, eventually asking them to leave the club. When the pair protested, they were allegedly assaulted by a throng of security guards. Lopez allegedly grabbed Shigley in a headlock, carried him out the door and slammed him on the concrete outside. Valera and five unnamed defendants purported to be bouncers (and labeled in the lawsuit as "Does I-V") allegedly dragged Bolla outside by her hair.
"There is no justification for violently attacking a patron of a nightclub," Firth says.
"There is only one narrow instance when that kind of force is justified and that's when [a security guard] is acting in self-defense. There is no evidence that that was the case."
Lopez insists Bolla and Shigley-both of whom he says appeared visibly intoxicated-provoked the altercation and were verbally and physically abusive toward the security guards.
"I think they totally exaggerated what happened," Lopez says. "We're not there to fight anybody…But if things get out of control we may have to do whatever we can to get them out of there without hurting them."
The lawsuit alleges Hall was present during the incident and neglected to stop things before they got out of hand. Hall declined to comment for this story, but he provided SFR copies of statements written by Valera and Lopez after the altercation.
They allege Bolla taunted the DJ and security guards before she, Shigley and the female friend eventually yelled obscenities, shoved and spat on security guards. Valera says she dragged Bolla by her arm only after Bolla "grabbed a martini glass as if to hit someone with it," fell down and refused to stand up. Lopez says he grabbed Shigley's arms and carried him outside only after Shigley shoved him. Once outside, Lopez says he and Shigley fell to the ground after Lopez lost his balance trying to avoid Shigley's kicks. Lopez says one of Shigley's female companions then repeatedly hit him with a cell phone and clawed at his neck. He says one of the females then spat at the security guards and called them "fags."
There are, however, inconsistencies in the statements offered by Lopez and Valera. Lopez's statement mentions Hall's presence during the incident and that Bolla shoved Valera, two items missing from Valera's report. Bolla and Shigley also filed a police report immediately after the incident. The security guards' statements were written in June 2004, Firth says, after his office notified the defendants of the impending claim against them. "I think they're inherently dubious," Firth says of the statements.
Lopez also alleges that several weeks after the incident, Shigley confronted him at his day job at PNM Electric and Gas and taunted Lopez in front of customers with obscenities and vows of revenge.
"I know that Steven did not go there seeking [Lopez] out," Firth says. "He was probably going there to pay his bill. Maybe they exchanged words but there was no taunting involved, that's for sure."
Firth intends to take the case before a jury and seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
"My clients had hoped to resolve this without a lawsuit," Firth says. "But that wasn't possible, so here they are. Now they're ready to see this thing all the way through. They're in it for the long haul."
