Man poked in eye by stripper's high heel gets $650,000 settlement

A South Florida man on Thursday won a $650,000 settlement for injuries he sustained after he was poked in the eye by a stripper’s high heel during a lap dance. Michael Ireland suffered a punctured eye socket and broken facial bones in the 2008 incident at the Cheetah Club near West Palm Beach.

Now he has permanent double vision, attorneys said. The strip club decided to settle out of court on Thursday instead of following through with the lawsuit.



"When this case was first filed, many people criticized it simply because it occurred at a strip club," said Lake Lytal, Ireland's attorney. "But we feel the $650,000 settlement goes to show that this was a serious case with serious injuries." Last year club boss Rod Kimbrough said the dancer - who he called a "very nice, young small girl" - lashed out after being smacked.

"A patron violently slapped the young woman on her buttocks and she was walking around the top of the bar and I guess out of a natural response she turned around and kicked him," Kimbrough said. The dancer was identified as Sakeena Shageer, who performs under the name Suki.

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