If You're Unhappy With The Prostitute You Hire, Perhaps Don't Call The Police... And Then Sue The Escort Company

from the just-a-suggestion dept

We see some pretty bizarre lawsuits at times around here, but Consumerist points us to one that takes bizarre lawsuits to a new level -- involving a guy suing an escort firm for almost getting him arrested, even though the potential arrest only came after he called the police himself, upset that the woman did not stay long enough. Apparently, a college student named Hubert Blackman went to Las Vegas last month and ordered a stripper to come to his room at the Stratosphere. He apparently paid $155 for a lap dance, and then an additional $120 for a sex act.

The next morning, he demanded a refund from the firm he had called for the stripper, saying she didn't stay the full hour he had paid for and also telling them that since he was drunk, he couldn't have legally agreed to the sex act. When the company refused, the guy called the police, who politely explained to him that he had broken the law in hiring a prostitute and that they should arrest him. Somehow, he avoided arrest, but rather than drop matters, he went back to New York and filed a lawsuit in which part of the complaint is that "I almost had gotten arrested," after "An escort did an illegal sexual act on me during her paid service to me." The guy even admits he knew that prostitution was illegal in Vegas. However, he's demanding the firm be shut down, his $275 back... and another $1.8 million for good measure. It kind of makes you wonder if he's going to actually get arrested this time...
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: escort services, las vegas, lawsuits, prostitutes


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • icon
    Thomas (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 1:08pm

    Seriously?

    This guy should be arrested just on the basis of his stupidity.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    tebee (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 1:27pm

    Interesting from an economic point of view

    I'm just intrigued that the sex costs less than the lap dance...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      HothMonster, 1 Feb 2011 @ 1:45pm

      Re: Interesting from an economic point of view

      I stumbled over the same thing, what I imagine is its a flat fee to get her to show up like $100 and the a fee for the dance, keeping with my guess, $55. Then a sex act is 120 which is twice the cost of a dance and if he had not gotten a dance the sex act would have been $220. Just a guess based on my exp as a in-home tech (read escort)

      -via droid

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Qritiqal (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 2:41pm

        Re: Re: Interesting from an economic point of view

        Prices vary based on region and I'm not familiar with the Vegas area, but additional services are referred to as "upsells" and are priced pretty much as you describe.

        Please note that I do not know this from personal experience...

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2011 @ 1:47pm

      Re: Interesting from an economic point of view

      I found that hilarious too

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Ima Fish (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 1:29pm

    I think this is more common than you'd think. I used to work for a firm in Baltimore. We got a call from a guy who wanted to sue an escort service. Him and his friend paid for two escorts, but surprise surprise, they refused to have sex and left. He wanted to sue and get their money back.

    The associate reminded him that prostitution is illegal and you cannot sue someone to compel an illegal act.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2011 @ 1:32pm

    I hope he knows how to hold to a bar of soap, it could be dangerous for his ass otherwise.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    weneedhelp (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 1:46pm

    $155 for a lap dance
    $120 for a sex act.
    Admitting to the world you lasted for under and hour...PRICELESS.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    TheStupidOne, 1 Feb 2011 @ 1:56pm

    He does raise an interesting question ...

    If you are in a state of diminished mental capacity and impaired judgment (for example insane or drunk) and you commit a crime at the urging of someone else, what should your punishment be? This is of course assuming that the prostitute propositioned him instead of the other way around. If I were his lawyer I would argue temporary alcohol induced insanity and claim that this escort took advantage of his condition to illegally turn a profit. I am curious what a court would rule ...

    Of course he is an idiot for even discussing this because of the common opinion of his actions and the common opinion of people using drunkenness as an excuse for their actions. But adhering to the letter of the law, he may actually have a case if the arguments are made properly and extraordinarily carefully.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      crade (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 3:10pm

      Re:

      I don't know about the common opinion, but I find "using drunkenness as an excuse for their actions" hilarious!
      I can't believe those moronic lawyers still haven't figured out that people can actually be responsible for their being drunk in the first place yet :)

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2011 @ 3:25pm

    last week called, they want their story back.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Will Sizemore (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 3:35pm

    Wait, wait. So if I decide to get drunk and drive, I'm responsible, but if I don't decide to drive until after I'm drunk, I'm not?

    I hope this guy never earns a degree in anything. Not only is he a complete idiot, but apparently an illiterate one too.

    But sadly, he probably will. In fact, he's probably going to earn that degree and be a Lieutenant in the Army and then we're in a WORLD of hurt because he's leading a platoon and won't listen to his Platoon Sergeant and whips out his 9mm issuing threats to court-marshal the whole platoon for not listening to him.

    His Company Commander, unless the company commander is also a moron, will slap him silly, but not until he's done damage to the soldiers in the platoon and gotten his revenge on the Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) by exercising his gift of poor grammar and bad writing style on their NCO Evaluation Reports.

    On this, I am speaking from experience. And in my case, the jerks made it all the way to Major!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Michael (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 4:00pm

    Wait. You can pay people for sex?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2011 @ 4:54pm

    Suing a Vegas pimp? (Sorry, escort service)

    Perhaps the fellas from Vegas will ask the fellas in New York to settle this one out of court.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Jaws4theRevenge (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 5:52pm

    Huhuhuh....Hubert....huhuhuh...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2011 @ 7:05pm

    Well you can't legally consent to sex while under the influence of alcohol. If women can use this defense when they get drunk at a frat party and have sex, he should be able to use this defense when he got drunk in Vegas and was influenced to pay for sex.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2011 @ 8:09pm

    Shorting his mom's time is how TAM gets over on you every time. How else could she work 28 hours a day?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2011 @ 8:24pm

    His position is that he didn't consent to it. That's why he uses the language of "performed an illegal sex act ON me." He's establishing himself as a victim of drunken seduction. It's an interesting maneuver, but there is plenty of case law out there that says drunkenness is not an excuse (for example, I once read a case about a guy that was compelled to buy a house because of a contract he had written on a napkin while getting drunk with his friends). You have to be completely trashed in order for it to hold up.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    techflaws.org (profile), 1 Feb 2011 @ 10:59pm

    Not that I'd ever (have to) pay(d) but I still don't see any point in making prostitution illegal.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Feb 2011 @ 1:14am

    This guy have a future.
    He will probably be the next CEO for Warner Music, or Universal or even maybe the next American president he has all the qualifications necessary to do a great job on those positions.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Not an electronic Rodent, 2 Feb 2011 @ 2:19am

    Just me?

    The only thing running through my mind readin this is John Cleese:
    "I wish to register a complaint! I wish to complain about the escort that I purchased not 1/2 an hour ago, from this very boutique."
    "Yes the Norwegian Blonde sir, beautiful plumage"

    *sound of crickets*

    Umm... just me then?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    PeteProdge (profile), 2 Feb 2011 @ 4:04am

    I am disgusted.

    Yesterday I decided to rob a bank.

    There I was, holding a knife to the cashier's throat as she emptied thousands of pounds into my bag, when I nicked myself on the blade.

    It was just a small cut on my thumb, but you know, banks aren't like hospitals or restaurants, they're not required to be clincally clean! Any dirt could have gotten in there.

    As such I am going to sue the bank for risk of infection, and to sue the manufacturer of the knife for not carrying a warning label.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    DB, 2 Feb 2011 @ 6:01am

    Complaint

    I'd be interested in seeing a copy of the Complaint. If he filed in New York, how'd he get jurisdiction? Did he actually find a lawyer to file it?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.