Ben Roethlisberger Settles Lake Tahoe Rape Suit

The suit, filed by former Harrah's casino host Andrea McNulty, was resolved via stipulation by all parties in December. The settlement comes a few months—which is like, a few hours, in the judicial system—after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled against the defendants' (including several Harrah's employees) motion to change venue. Predictably, the parties are refusing to comment on whether or not Big Ben paid McNulty to go away.

McNulty filed the suit in Washoe District Court in 2009, claiming Roethlisberger lured her into his penthouse suite and forced her to have sex. The suit also named a list of Harrah's employees, claiming they covered up the alleged sexual assault.

In August 2011, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled against Roethlisberger and the other defendants, who had filed motions to move the case out of Reno. The Supreme Court affirmed a judge's ruling that the case should stay in Washoe District Court.

In December, all of the parties in the suit signed stipulations to dismiss the case.

McNulty's lawyer, Cal Dunlap, refused to discuss the terms of the stipulation.

Roethlisberger's lawyer, David Cornwell, and his agent, Ryan Tollner, did not respond to calls and emails requesting comment.

Both sides probably agreed to this to save face, since it is a lose-lose for everyone involved. Roethlisberger, despite a growing trend of assault allegations, is in the middle of his Roger-Goodell-sponsored life reclamation project and most people have moved on from feigning outrage over these "incidents" anyway. The last thing he needs is to have this suit go any further or have it come out he paid the woman off. Similarly, Ms. McNulty does not need anyone to know that she dropped her case for a little cash after Roethlisberger's people painted her as a gold-digging extortionist. So, the matter is settled "[b]ut neither side will say whether the Super Bowl star paid Andrea McNulty any money as a settlement."

Not quite a telegraphed QB sneak, but pretty close.

Lawsuit alleging Lake Tahoe rape against Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger settled [Reno Gazette-Journal]