A former New York hedge fund manager who was attacked and beaten by security officers at the Cosmopolitan’s Marquee nightclub has reached an undisclosed settlement with the casino and club’s management.
The out-of-court agreement came after a jury had awarded David Moradi $160.5 million.
Moradi’s attorneys also were seeking $483 million in punitive damages.
According to testimony cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Moradi managed a $1 billion hedge fund and earned $11 million in the year before he suffered a traumatic brain injury in the April 2012 incident, which arose from an apparent dispute over a $10,000
According to the 2014 lawsuit Moradi filed against Nevada Property 1 LLC, which owns the casino and nightclub, and Roof Deck Entertainment LLC, a nightclub manager and security officers forced Moradi into a security room and demanded his identification and credit card after he already had paid a bill of more than $10,000 tab at the club.
Moradi claimed in his lawsuit against Nevada Property 1, which owns the Cosmopolitan and the Marquee, and Roof Deck Entertainment, that a club manager and security officers forced him into a room and demanded his identification and credit card. They shoved him to the ground and repeatedly smashed his head against the concrete floor and held his head there “with a high degree of pressure”.
The suit said he became disoriented during the attack and stopped in a restroom after he was escorted out of the casino, and then noticed his injuries. When he returned to the Wynn, where he was staying, a VIP host “became alarmed” when he saw his condition and arranged for a Wynn driver to take him to the hospital.
Moradi was diagnosed with a concussion. He also suffered a bruised right eye, head swelling and sore arms, knees and neck. He had difficulty walking and concentrating and endured headaches, disorientation and anxiety, according to his lawsuit. A Las Vegas neurosurgeon diagnosed him with a traumatic brain injury.
As a result of his injuries, his hedge fund ultimately shut down, and Moradi is now unable to get work in the field, the suit said.
Defense attorneys contended at the trial that a dispute arose when Moradi was closing out his tab, and when a general manager tried to tell him there was a problem with his signature, Moradi head-butted him.
They also told jurors Moradi did not suffer a brain injury or permanent damage during the incident, and that his hedge fund was failing before the incident occurred.
