"Pacman" Jones

However bad the off-the-field conduct of suspended NFL cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones may have been, the Tennessee Titans and the league are unlikely to be found liable for the shooting of a Las Vegas strip-club bouncer.

Tommy Urbanski cites Jones's “prior violent, malicious and criminal acts” in the second lawsuit to have resulted from a Feb. 19 melee at the Minxx Gentleman's Club. A gunman whom Urbanski identifies as a member of Jones's entourage shot him four times, paralyzing him from the waist down.

The NFL suspended Jones for a year in April because of his off-the-field behavior. But Urbanski says Commissioner Roger Goodell should have acted sooner, noting that Jones had been arrested five times before the Minxx melee.

“Though they had the right and duty to the public to suspend Jones for his detrimental conduct off the field, neither the NFL nor the Titans disciplined Jones for any such prior conduct,” the complaint alleges.

Urbanski is also suing Jones and Harlem Knights, a Houston entertainment company that provided strippers for the Minxx as part of NBA All-Star weekend celebrations. But the pro football defendants are the ones with the deep pockets.

“The fact that the NFL and the Titans did not punish Adam 'Pacman' Jones until after Tommy was paralyzed is a proximate cause of Tommy's injuries,” plaintiff's attorney Matthew T. Dushoff said at a news conference last week.

Last year, a TV cameraman reached a settlement with the Texas Rangers after being assaulted by pitcher Kenny Rogers during batting practice. But a lawyer for Jones derided Urbanski's suit as “a 'Hail Mary' pass” since Jones was not the assailant.

“There's not one bit of evidence to link him to Mr. Urbanski's injury,” Robert L. Langford told The Tennessean.

According to the complaint, Jones “directed and ordered” the gunman after threatening to kill another bouncer, who was shot along with Urbanski. But even if that is true, the claims of negligent supervision and vicariously liability against the Titans and the NFL face major problems.

For one thing, Nevada law provides that “An employer is not liable for harm or injury caused by the intentional conduct of an employee if the conduct of the employee: (a) Was a truly independent venture of the employee; (b) Was not committed in the course of the very task assigned to the employee; and (c) Was not reasonably foreseeable.”

Urbanski argues that Harlem Knights only invited Jones to the Minxx because of his status as “a prominent football player.” That falls short, however, of proving that he acted in the course of a task assigned to him by his employer –- unlike Rogers, who assaulted Larry Rodriguez as players were filing onto the field at the Rangers' ballpark.

Since Jones's prior arrests did not involve firearms, the shooting at the Minxx also does not appear to be “reasonably foreseeable.”

Police have yet to identify the gunman. In the other case related to the shooting, a female patron who suffered a gunshot wound to the head is suing only Jones, Harlem Knights and the club's owners.

By Matthew Heller
10/23/07