YNOT – A South Florida man may not have laughed all the way to the bank, but he might have drooled.On Thursday, Cheetah Club of West Palm Beach agreed to pay Michael Ireland $650,000 in compensation for injuries he claims resulted when a stripper kicked him in the face during a lap dance in 2008. Ireland and his attorneys said he suffers permanent double vision after “Suki’s” stiletto heel punctured an eye socket and broke several bones in his face.
Cheetah Club Manager Rod Kimbrough told WPTV the ecdysiast in question is “a very nice, young, small girl,” and if Ireland had kept his hands to himself, the incident would not have occurred.
“A patron violently slapped the young woman on her buttocks as she was walking around the top of the bar, and I guess out of a natural response she turned around and kicked him,” Kimbrough said.
Jake Lytal, one of the attorneys who represented Ireland, said his client deserved the settlement.
“When this case was first filed, many people criticized it simply because it occurred at a strip club,” Lytal told NBC Miami. “But we feel the $650,000 settlement goes to show that this was a serious case with serious injuries.”
About every 10 years a Florida exotic dancer provokes a lawsuit, TheSmokingGun.com noted. In 1998, Paul Shimkonis lost when he sued a Clearwater club, claiming whiplash as a result of too-close-for-comfort contact with feature dancer Tawny Peaks’ breasts.
