A golfer hits out of the trees on the sixth hole at Lakewood Country Club on August 23, 2017, in Lakewood, Colorado. (Seth McConnell, The Denver Post)
A real estate broker who is accused of throwing a developer to the ground at a golf outing last year has denied doing that and is suggesting the other man started the scuffle.
In late January, real estate developer Brad Eide filed an injury lawsuit against the Lakewood Country Club, the brokerage JLL, and its employee Nick Steitz. That lawsuit, which was short on details, described a fracas between the two at an event last summer.
In Eide’s telling, he and Steitz met for the first time at an outing for real estate execs at the country club on June 3 that was hosted by the construction firm RK Industries.
“During Defendant Steitz and Plaintiff’s conversation, Defendant Steitz picked Plaintiff up off the ground and held him over his shoulder for reasons unknown,” Eide’s lawsuit alleged.
“Steitz began bouncing Plaintiff, causing Plaintiff pain,” it went on to say. “Plaintiff protested being picked up by Defendant Steitz. Plaintiff was in imminent fear of bodily injury. Plaintiff did not consent to Defendant Steitz’s physical contact. Defendant forcefully slammed Plaintiff to the ground, striking a table in the process. Plaintiff sustained serious bodily injury.”
Steitz, who had a short NFL career, responded to the lawsuit March 21. He admits being at the event and having a conversation with Eide but denies picking him up, holding him over his shoulder, bouncing him and slamming him. Steitz also denies being 300 pounds.
“Defendant’s conduct was not wrongful and Defendant is not liable for Plaintiff’s alleged damages because of Plaintiff’s own tortious contact and/or threatened contact with Defendant,” the broker wrote of his actions that day, adding that he “acted properly and reasonably in response to” Eide’s physical contact or threats of contact in the clubhouse.
“Plaintiff’s damages were caused in part or wholly by his own conduct,” he wrote of Eide.
Like Eide’s lawsuit, Steitz’s answer is sparse. It does not say what Eide allegedly did to cause their tussle or how Steitz responded. The broker denies the developer’s accusation that he was roughhousing at other times that day, including by tackling execs on a putting green.
Josh Hotchkiss, a lawyer for Eide with Ramos Law, says his client did not start the scuffle.
“He’s a big ol’ boy, a former NFL lineman, and my guy is much smaller,” he added. “There is no evidence to suggest my client started anything. He was unsuspecting, standing there having a conversation, when the incident occurred. So, I’d say that’s a gross inaccuracy.”
“There was not any mutual participation of horseplay,” Hotchkiss said. “My client was just having a conversation in a group of people, I think there was some conversation about where Mr. Steitz played his college football, and then next thing you know my client is above Mr. Steitz’s shoulders and being bounced around before he’s thrown to the ground.”
Hotchkiss declined to list the injuries that Eide suffered but said his client went to a hospital afterwards. He maintains the incident was unprovoked and entirely unexpected.
“I do think there is some credible evidence that Mr. Steitz was acting unusual during the golf outing,” he said, “so maybe this was the culmination of that behavior throughout the day.”
In separate court filings, JLL and the Lakewood Country Club have denied doing anything wrong. The defendants and Eide want a jury in Douglas County to decide the case.
“Plaintiff assumed the risk of injury or damage by voluntarily or unreasonably exposing himself to injury with knowledge or appreciation of the danger,” JLL wrote of Eide.
Steitz’s lawyers declined to discuss the summer scuffle with BusinessDen. They are Kevin Ripplinger and Bryan Patterson at Patterson Ripplinger in Greenwood Village.
A golfer hits out of the trees on the sixth hole at Lakewood Country Club on August 23, 2017, in Lakewood, Colorado. (Seth McConnell, The Denver Post)
A real estate broker who is accused of throwing a developer to the ground at a golf outing last year has denied doing that and is suggesting the other man started the scuffle.
In late January, real estate developer Brad Eide filed an injury lawsuit against the Lakewood Country Club, the brokerage JLL, and its employee Nick Steitz. That lawsuit, which was short on details, described a fracas between the two at an event last summer.
In Eide’s telling, he and Steitz met for the first time at an outing for real estate execs at the country club on June 3 that was hosted by the construction firm RK Industries.
“During Defendant Steitz and Plaintiff’s conversation, Defendant Steitz picked Plaintiff up off the ground and held him over his shoulder for reasons unknown,” Eide’s lawsuit alleged.
“Steitz began bouncing Plaintiff, causing Plaintiff pain,” it went on to say. “Plaintiff protested being picked up by Defendant Steitz. Plaintiff was in imminent fear of bodily injury. Plaintiff did not consent to Defendant Steitz’s physical contact. Defendant forcefully slammed Plaintiff to the ground, striking a table in the process. Plaintiff sustained serious bodily injury.”
Steitz, who had a short NFL career, responded to the lawsuit March 21. He admits being at the event and having a conversation with Eide but denies picking him up, holding him over his shoulder, bouncing him and slamming him. Steitz also denies being 300 pounds.
“Defendant’s conduct was not wrongful and Defendant is not liable for Plaintiff’s alleged damages because of Plaintiff’s own tortious contact and/or threatened contact with Defendant,” the broker wrote of his actions that day, adding that he “acted properly and reasonably in response to” Eide’s physical contact or threats of contact in the clubhouse.
“Plaintiff’s damages were caused in part or wholly by his own conduct,” he wrote of Eide.
Like Eide’s lawsuit, Steitz’s answer is sparse. It does not say what Eide allegedly did to cause their tussle or how Steitz responded. The broker denies the developer’s accusation that he was roughhousing at other times that day, including by tackling execs on a putting green.
Josh Hotchkiss, a lawyer for Eide with Ramos Law, says his client did not start the scuffle.
“He’s a big ol’ boy, a former NFL lineman, and my guy is much smaller,” he added. “There is no evidence to suggest my client started anything. He was unsuspecting, standing there having a conversation, when the incident occurred. So, I’d say that’s a gross inaccuracy.”
“There was not any mutual participation of horseplay,” Hotchkiss said. “My client was just having a conversation in a group of people, I think there was some conversation about where Mr. Steitz played his college football, and then next thing you know my client is above Mr. Steitz’s shoulders and being bounced around before he’s thrown to the ground.”
Hotchkiss declined to list the injuries that Eide suffered but said his client went to a hospital afterwards. He maintains the incident was unprovoked and entirely unexpected.
“I do think there is some credible evidence that Mr. Steitz was acting unusual during the golf outing,” he said, “so maybe this was the culmination of that behavior throughout the day.”
In separate court filings, JLL and the Lakewood Country Club have denied doing anything wrong. The defendants and Eide want a jury in Douglas County to decide the case.
“Plaintiff assumed the risk of injury or damage by voluntarily or unreasonably exposing himself to injury with knowledge or appreciation of the danger,” JLL wrote of Eide.
Steitz’s lawyers declined to discuss the summer scuffle with BusinessDen. They are Kevin Ripplinger and Bryan Patterson at Patterson Ripplinger in Greenwood Village.
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