Mayer Brown Lawyer Settles with Brennan’s in Houston Rape Case

A Mayer Brown partner has settled a lawsuit against Brennan’s of Houston for an alleged October 2015 rape by a bartender who worked there.

A judge in Harris County, Texas, dismissed Jessica Crutcher’s lawsuit against the restaurant in an order signed Monday, report Law.com and Law360.

Crutcher had claimed that the bartender, who died in November 2018, spiked her drink with a drug and later raped her at her home. Her suit had alleged that the bartender was aided by a restaurant manager who accompanied the bartender. Both employees were fired after the alleged incident.

Crutcher had also sued the manager but dropped the claims in December 2019, according to the articles.

The bartender was charged in July 2018 with raping Crutcher and another woman in a later assault.

A lawyer for Crutcher, Peter Taaffe of the Buzbee Law Firm, told Law.com that there was a settlement, but the terms are confidential.

Defense lawyer Jeffrey Bale of the Bale Law Firm told Law.com that the suit “settled by way of a mutual release of all claims and the terms of the settlement are confidential.”

Texas Lawyer Jessica Crutcher had originally sued anonymously. She went public in May 2019, according to Above the Law, which cited a Law.com story. Crutcher said she had nothing to hide, and her disclosure prevented the defendants from unmasking her, according to the prior stories.

Crutcher also said she was inspired to go public by her representation of crime victims.

“I’ve done a lot of pro bono work over the years where I have seen my clients, survivors of horrible violence, very bravely stand up for themselves. I think I should be able to do the same thing here,” she said in May 2019.

Brennan’s of Houston had issued a statement about the lawsuit in February 2019.

“While Brennan’s condemns what Ms. Crutcher claims happened to her in the strongest terms, we strenuously dispute any allegation that our family business is somehow responsible for the damages she claims. We were supportive of her at the time of the incident and we cooperated with the criminal investigation she instigated more than two years later,” the statement said.

Here’s a https://t.co/7dpyf1Q5HQ sponsored event at Duke Uni. Judge Bill Pryor.

Remember what you did in Alabama as recited at this event?

Your Judicial Duties v. Personal Faith and Beliefs?

Let’s see if it applies in 2020.

Signed,
We the People.https://t.co/1a54yxmUy3 pic.twitter.com/all5YUwIjS

— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) September 12, 2020

Alleged Victim In $20 Million Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Brennan’s of Houston Comes Forward

Attorney Jessica Crutcher says that her experience representing sexual assault victims in court inspired her to go public with her identity

Originally Published; May 13, 2019 | Republished by LIT; Oct 23, 2020

Five months after filing a $20 million lawsuit against Brennan’s of Houston after an alleged sexual assault, the defendant in that case has gone public with her identity.

In an updated petition filed with the Harris County Court last week, Houston attorney Jessica Crutcher revealed her identity as the alleged victim.

As Eater reported back in January, Crutcher says in her complaint that she was drugged and assaulted multiple times over the course of an evening by Sean Kerrigan, a former bartender at the longstanding restaurant, and that his actions were “aided and abetted” by Brennan’s manager Christopher Lockhart. Kerrigan was charged with sexual assault in relation to the case, but died before it could be adjudicated.

Speaking with Texas Lawyer, Crutcher says that her experience representing sexual assault victims in court inspired her to come forward. “I’ve done a lot of pro bono work over the years where I have seen my clients, survivors of horrible violence, very bravely stand up for themselves,” Crutcher told the publication. “I think I should be able to do the same thing here.” She also says that she wanted to avoid being named non-consensually by the defendant’s attorneys as the lawsuit proceeds.

Brennan’s is named in the lawsuit because Crutcher alleges that both Kerrigan and Lockhart were acting in their capacity as Brennan’s employees when the incident began. In response to the suit, Brennan’s has generally denied all of Crutcher’s claims, and also said in a statement shortly after the lawsuit was filed that the formerly-anonymous Crutcher had told the restaurant that it was “not at fault.”

Drew Willey, a Houston criminal defense attorney says a former employer once took money out of his paycheck to donate to a judge’s campaign coffers, adding that the employer claimed the payments were “necessary to keep his lights on and keep allowing him to pay us.” pic.twitter.com/ysWxd4grgH

— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) September 22, 2020

Next Up; A Shotgun Date with the Mistress and a Blast of a Time with the Mistresses Daughter. Then it’s back to Judge Lynn Hughes of S.D. Tex. for a repeat performance of judicial restraint for lawyers and judges. https://t.co/qoVNOfkfNv

— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) September 23, 2020