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Man wins $650k for stripper shoe eye snafu

Lapdance face-poke horror provoked by phantom fondler

A South Florida man is $650,000 richer after successfully suing a strip club, having been injured when a lap dancer poked him in the eye with a stiletto (heel).

Michael Ireland was left with a punctured eye socket, broken facial bones and permanent double vision after the 2008 incident at the Cheetah club in West Palm Beach.

The shoe in question was described as being a platform model with a steel heel, attached to a dancer called Sakeena Shageer.

Ireland sued for compensation, though it seems observers were less than convinced he would get any payback given the venue for the injury.

Whether this was a moral objection to strip clubs, or simply a feeling that it's caveat emptor when paying young women in high heels to wriggle around on you, isn't clear.

Added to this, the club boss told local media Rod Kimbrough said the dancer Sakeena Shageer, a "very nice, young small girl", had reacted instinctively after being smacked on the buttocks by a patron unknown.

"A patron violently slapped the young woman on her buttocks and she was walking around the top of the bar and I guess out of a natural response she turned around and kicked him."

However, Ireland and his attorneys pressed on, and yesterday the club elected to settle rather than go through the hassle of a court case.

"When this case was first filed, many people criticized it simply because it occurred at a strip club," said Lake Lytal, Ireland's attorney. "But we feel the $650,000 settlement goes to show that this was a serious case with serious injuries."

Lytal told the Palm Beach Post more litigation was in the offing. ®

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