Lawsuit: Business ''failed to properly train and supervise security personnel''

November 20, 2004
Cincinnati Enquirer (click for complete story)

A 21-year-old woman's federal court suit ended with $148,000 in settlements promised from a Fairfield night club, Butler County and a former Butler sheriff's deputy who raped her in 2002.

But the woman says she got something more important than money: An admission from the officer and the club that they were wrong.

"I'd rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable, without them saying they were guilty," she said.

"Them saying they were guilty, taking that blame, means so much more to me than money, I can't put it into words."

The settlements stem from a 2002 Butler County criminal case in which Kirk Kash was convicted of kidnapping and raping the woman while he was a Butler County sheriff's deputy working off-duty at the Metropolis nightclub in Fairfield.

Kash, now 40, resigned his sheriff's job and is serving a four-year prison term.

...Kash and Metropolis signed settlement agreements; under a federal court rule that means they admitted to the woman's allegations, said Jennifer Branch, the victim's lawyer.

The woman's civil complaint alleged Kash raped and kidnapped her and that Metropolis failed to properly train and supervise its security personnel. Metropolis has paid its $23,000 settlement.

Commentary:
Why can other victims try to hold businesses accountable, yet stores who disarm everyone but the criminals get a free-pass under Ohio law?

Businesses which render their customers and employees defenseless by posting "no concealed carry" signs should have the same liability exposure that any other business has.

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