5/1/2013
McKelvey v. Harrah’s Casino
In McKelvey, plaintiff was on line to enter the P. Diddy Red, White and Blue Party at Harrah’s Pool after Dark. While on line, the crowd was informed that no one else would be let in. The crowd became unruly and Harrah’s Security came in to control the crowd. Plaintiff alleged that he was picked up by a member of security and slammed to the ground. He brought suit for assault and battery and for punitive damages.

At trial, Christopher Mauro pointed out that plaintiff never reported the incident to Harrah’s and initially told the Atlantic City Police that it was someone from the crowd that threw him down and began hitting him. Moreover, plaintiff could not give any description of the member of security who did this to him. Mr. Mauro argued to the jury that security did not do this to plaintiff and that he was fabricating his story. The jury agreed and returned a verdict in favor of Harrah’s after deliberating for less than 10 minutes.