A woman filed a lawsuit Monday against an Atlanta nightclub, claiming it was negligent and failed to provide proper security the night she was allegedly sexually assaulted on the dance floor.
Jasmine Eiland, 30, of East St. Louis, Illinois, filed the suit in Fulton County Court Monday, alleging that the popular club’s security and safety measures were inadequate, which allowed someone to allegedly assault her sexually in January. The attacks occurred once on the dance floor and again in a closed-off area, Eiland and her attorneys told reporters Tuesday.
Eiland’s lawyer, L. Chris Stewart, said she was in Atlanta for her birthday and was streaming her birthday party at the club on Facebook Live when the man carried out the alleged sexual assault.
“Something like that should not happen in a nightclub,” Stewart said Tuesday in a phone interview with the Associated Press, adding that several former staffers at the nightclub and attendees noted the club was lacking adequate security.
“It’s really a situation where they chose to choose profit over protection,” Stewart said.
An attorney for the nightclub, Opera Atlanta, said the club is working with authorities in their investigation and vowed to “vigorously” defend the suit against the club.
“The safety of all our guests is our main priority and we have always upheld the highest standard of security each night,” the nightclub’s attorney, Bryan Knight, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“We have worked diligently with the Atlanta Police Department to assist with this ongoing investigation. The legal action filed today involving the club will be defended vigorously,” Knight added.
Authorities arrested the suspect in the alleged sexual assault, Dominique Williams, on January 29 and charged him with aggravated sodomy. He remained incarcerated as of Tuesday and is being held without bond.