LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Nevada judge cut several allegations from a landlord’s lawsuit alleging that a Las Vegas striptease club owner ran an illegal brothel, but he decided the tenant breach-of-contract case can proceed toward trial.
Clark County District Court Judge Mark Denton didn’t rule Monday on the brothel claim that Las Vegas real estate firm The Siegel Group makes against Can Can Room owner Sam Aldabbagh.
But the judge struck from the lawsuit allegations that dancers were required to have sex with Aldabbagh and customers; that Aldabbagh had a madam collect money from patrons for sex acts; and that the club had VIP rooms with beds where workers performed sex for compensation.
The Siegel Group bought the Can Can Room property in May. It filed the lawsuit in September, saying Aldabbagh ran an illegal business in violation of state law, broke his lease and has refused to vacate the property, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
It alleges Aldabbagh ran an illegal business in violation of state law, violated his lease and refused to vacate the property off an industrial road a block west of the Las Vegas Strip.
The club’s business license was revoked Sept. 25 by Clark County, but Aldabbagh has appealed that decision in a court case being heard by a different judge.
Aldabbagh’s attorneys sought to have the Siegel Group lawsuit dismissed completely or in part. They accuse the landlord of making “horrendous allegations” without evidence in a bid to “unjustly terminate” Aldabbagh’s lease.
Aldabbagh’s attorney, H. Stan Johnson, on Monday characterized the brothel claims as an attempt to defame Aldabbagh, the Review-Journal reported.
Siegel Group lawyer Brandon Trout responded that the allegations are key to the landlord’s claim that the tenant oversaw unlawful activities.
Trout told the judge there are video cameras throughout the club, including VIP rooms, and that nothing happens without Aldabbagh’s knowledge.
Denton’s ruling doesn’t prevent Siegel Group from presenting to a jury evidence of the allegations that were removed from the lawsuit, the Review-Journal said.
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