LOS ANGELES -- A popular gay hotspot in West Hollywood has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that restaurant staffers raped customers after lacing their drinks with date-rape drugs.
The complaint, obtained by The Huffington Post, was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court Wednesday and claims that at least three different employees preyed upon women two separate times; once in April 2011 and again in November 2011. TMZ first reported on the lawsuit.
The first claimant, referred to in the suit as Joanna Doe, says that she visited The Abbey on April 14, 2011, with two girlfriends and was raped by one of the bar's employees, Oscar Iraheta, in Iraheta's car.
Joanna Doe alleges she couldn't speak, focus, or even walk by herself after drinking something Iraheta gave her. She also claims that once she was in the stupor, Iraheta led her through the restaurant, out the back entrance and toward his car, where he raped her. Joanna Doe says she sustained severe bruising around her neck from the alleged assault.
Together with her husband, who is also named in the suit, the mother of three is suing The Abbey for a total of $10.5 million, plus lawyer's fees.
Iraheta was arrested in 2011 but never charged with a crime.
The second claimant, Yvette Doe, visited The Abbey with her girlfriend on Nov. 7, 2011. The suit says that the pair had a fight while there and dispersed to two separate areas of the restaurant. Yvette Doe, then crying at the bar, was offered a drink that she says severely impaired her. She says that's when two staffers, named "Doe 99" and "Doe 100" in the suit because their identities are unknown, led her out of the back door of The Abbey and raped her.
Before the assault, Yvette Doe, who is a lesbian, had never had sex with a man. She is seeking $10 million in damages and lawyer's fees.
The three plaintiffs are represented by Robert W. Hirsh & Associates. In a phone conversation with The Huffington Post, Hirsh said, "We suspect that there are other unknown victims and we encourage them to come forward."
SBE Entertainment Group, which owns The Abbey, had no comment on the suit. The restaurant and nightlife company is also facing a lawsuit over Cleo Restaurant, an eatery inside the Redbury Hotel. A line cook there claimed in a suit earlier this year that she was discriminated against because she is gay and black.
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