PITTSBURGH – A woman who sustained a gunshot wound while fleeing a fight which occurred in the parking lot of an adult nightclub in early 2021 has won a motion to compel the owners of the club to produce discovery evidence.
Cailyn J. Richards of Carnegie first filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Aug. 30, 2022 versus VI Corporation (doing business as “Club Erotica”) and Vincenzo Isoldi Irrevocable Family Trust, all of McKees Rocks.
“In the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2021, plaintiff was a patron at defendants’ business establishment, known as Club Erotica, located at 826 Island Avenue, McKees Rocks, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania 15136, which is owned, operated, managed and controlled by the defendants. While at defendants’ business establishment, patrons began to harass, threaten, intimidate and/or instigate a physical altercation with other patrons in the parking lot of the premises. At all relevant times, no bouncers, doormen, security guards, employees, agents and/or servants of defendants checked any bar patrons for weapons, including guns, so as to prevent hazards to the general public, including plaintiff,” the suit said.
“Throughout the night of Jan. 28, 2021 and into the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2021, multiple patrons, including plaintiff, went inside of defendants’ business establishment to notify the bouncers, doormen and/or security guards of these fights breaking out in the parking lot on the premises. At or around 2:53 a.m., two to three gunshots were fired outside in the parking lot of defendants’ premises. While running away from the shooter(s), plaintiff realized that she had been shot in her left hand. At all relevant times, defendants knew or should have known that the policies and procedures in place did not provide any security to any patrons of the bar or the community in which the bar is located.”
The suit said that despite the situation at hand, at no time did the establishment’s staff make an attempt to defuse the matter, intervene or notify the police that it was taking place.
“As a direct and proximate result of the negligence, carelessness and recklessness of all of the above-named defendants, plaintiff has suffered and sustained the following serious and severe injuries, some or all of which may be permanent: Gunshot wound to the center of the left hand, open laceration of the SF tip; diminished sensation of the distal SF; soft tissue swelling; comminuted fracture of the proximal fourth phalanx with intra-articular extension into the metacarpophalangeal joint; loss of feeling and permanent damage to the left pinky finger; bullet fragments in the left hand and bruises, contusions and other injuries in or about nerves, muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, tissues and vessels of the body,” the suit stated.
UPDATE
On Jan. 3, plaintiff counsel filed a motion to compel the defendants to produce discovery information in the case, as the defense has not answered or otherwise responded to the complaint since it was filed 17 months ago.
“Plaintiff filed a complaint on Aug. 30, 2022. On or about Jan. 4, 2023, plaintiff’s first set of interrogatories and requests for production of documents directed to defendant was served on defense counsel by electronic mail. Discovery responses were due on or about Feb. 3, 2023. On or about Oct. 16, 2023, plaintiff counsel followed up on the outstanding discovery requests, [at which time] defense counsel responded that they would try to get them to our office by the end of the month,” the motion stated.
“On or about Nov. 8, 2023, plaintiff counsel followed up on the outstanding discovery request and received no response. Although plaintiff’s counsel has made multiple requests for these documents, most recently on Nov. 29, 2023 by email, so as to avoid having to file a motion, defendant has yet to respond to these discovery requests. These responses are now significantly overdue. As such, plaintiff respectfully requests that this Honorable Court enter an order directing the defendant to respond to plaintiff’s discovery requests within 20 days of the same.”
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Philip A. Ignelzi granted the motion on Jan. 10 and ordered the defendants to produce their discovery responses within 30, not 20, days from the date of his order.
For counts of negligence and negligence-in-supervision, the plaintiff is seeking, jointly and severally, compensatory and punitive damages in excess of the mandatory arbitration limits of Allegheny County, plus costs, interests and all other relief permitted by this Court.
The plaintiff is represented by Ian M. Watt of Friday & Cox, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants are represented by John A. Bacharach of Bacharach & Michel, also in Pittsburgh.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-22-010891
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com