Ben Roethlisberger's Agent Denies Claims Made in Civil Lawsuit

A casino employee at Harrah's Lake Tahoe filed a $390,000 civil lawsuit last week in Nevada against Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Andrea McNulty is suing Roethlisberger for an incident that allegedly happened a year ago in July 2008. Her suit accuses him of sexually assaulting her in his penthouse suite at Harrah's Lake Tahoe. Roethlisberger was in Lake Tahoe at the time participating in a celebrity golf event. He was served in Nevada this past weekend when he was in town playing at another golf event. According to the District Attorney's Office in Nevada, McNulty has not filed a criminal complaint and Roethlisberger is not facing any criminal charges.

McNulty said that she met Roethlisberger while working as the VIP manager at Harrah's Lake Tahoe. Her lawsuit claims that Roethlisberger spent 20 minutes chatting with her and her staff at the concierge desk on the penthouse floor. She said Roethlisberger asked her to "take a quick look" at the sound system in his suite because it wasn't working. Her lawsuit continues that she decided to go to Roethlisberger's room herself when she couldn't locate her manager or an engineering staff member. She said the television and sound equipment was working fine and informed him of her findings. McNulty then alleges that Roethlisberger blocked the door when she attempted to leave and began to fondle and kiss her. She claims he forced her on to a bed and had sex with her against her will. McNulty states that Roethlisberger asked her if there were cameras in the room and when she told him that there were cameras everywhere, he told her to say she was there to fix his television and asked her to leave

McNulty's lawsuit claims that she spent time in a mental health hospital after becoming depressed after the alleged assault. The lawsuit also includes eight Harrah's executives who McNulty said refused to investigate her complaint because of their friendship with Roethlisberger. According to her suit, the hotel's chief of security told her, "Most girls would feel lucky to have sex with someone like Ben Roethlisberger."

The timing of McNulty's lawsuit and the fact that a criminal complaint has never been filed is raising a lot of questions. The lawsuit was coincidentally filed the week that Roethlisberger happened to be in Nevada attending another golf tournament. Roethlisberger's attorney, David Cornwell, spoke to a local television station and said, "The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct. If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated." The Steelers are standing behind Roethlisberger. Dave Lockett, Steelers spokesman said, "We are aware of the allegations but cannot comment on the specifics of the case. We've been told Ben's side of the story and we fully support him at this time." Roethlisberger has not spoken publicly about the lawsuit.

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