LAS VEGAS – A former beverage manager at the Hard Rock Hotel has sued Dennis Rodman, claiming the ex-NBA star assaulted her last year by rubbing against her body and slapping her on the buttocks.
In her federal lawsuit filed last week, Sara Robinson also accuses her former employer of retaliating against her after she complained about Rodman's behavior.
Rodman spokeswoman Shannon Barr declined to comment, and Hard Rock spokeswoman Dorian Cantrell did not immediately return phone calls to The Associated Press on Saturday.
In her complaint, Robinson said she was working in the resort's Cuba Libre bar in March 2006 when Rodman, a hotel guest, began "making a scene" by trying to climb atop the bar after failing to gain her full attention.
"As Robinson stepped around the bar, Rodman grabbed her, pulled her towards him and rubbed his body against hers," the lawsuit alleges. "Robinson tried to get free from Rodman's grasp at which time he assaulted her by reaching down and slapping her open-handed on the bottom."
The complaint, which seeks unspecified damages, claims that Robinson was fired after she filled out a voluntary statement detailing Rodman's actions in a subsequent incident at the same bar the next month in which he is also accused of causing a scene.
The document accuses Rodman of assault and battery, and the Hard Rock Hotel of negligence by failing to protect her from Rodman's "harassing conduct," the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Rodman, 46, is no stranger to lawsuits in Las Vegas. In 2001, a state jury awarded former Mirage craps dealer James Brasich $80,000 in a case against Rodman.
Brasich said Rodman humiliated him by rubbing dice on his head, chest, stomach and genitals during an October 1997 craps game. Rodman appealed the verdict, and both sides later reached a confidential settlement.
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