A New Jersey woman who says she was raped at the former Pure Nightclub (now Voyeur) in 2008 has filed suit against operator Michael Weiss and others for allegedly failing to run a safe establishment.
The woman, who identifies as a lesbian, says she was raped inside a storage closet at the Center City nightclub by Afif Bakir, who allegedly worked at Voyeur at the time of the incident.
Bakir, 39, formerly of the Tacony/Wissinoming section of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to sexual assault, unlawful restraint and indecent assault.
In October 2009, he began serving an 11-and-a-half-to-23-month sentence at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center in Northeast Philadelphia. After completing the jail time, Bakir also must serve three years of supervised probation, according to court records.
Bakir couldn’t be reached for comment.
Also named as defendants in the suit are Michael Weiss’ brother William and Michael R. Skubish Jr., a former associate of Michael Weiss. Both men allegedly helped operate Pure at the time of the incident.
The defendants have requested a jury trial, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. May 2, 2011, in Room 480 of City Hall.
PGN doesn’t publish the names of sexual-assault victims.
The woman patronized Pure, 1221 St. James St., on Feb. 10, 2008. At some point during her visit, she wished to request a song from the disc jockey, according to the lawsuit.
She didn’t know where the entrance to the disc-jockey booth was, and saw Bakir carrying bottles of liquor and keys. Perceiving him to be an employee of Pure, the woman asked Bakir to take her to the DJ booth, to which Bakir allegedly agreed.
But instead of taking her to the DJ booth, Bakir allegedly took the woman to a storage room and raped her.
“In the storage room, Bakir grabbed [the woman] by the shoulder and maneuvered her to the floor,” the lawsuit states. “After [the woman] fell to the floor, Bakir pulled his penis out of his pants and forced it into her mouth. [Then] Bakir forcibly penetrated [the woman’s] vagina with his penis. [The woman] made several attempts to free herself from Bakir, but was unable to do so until after she was assaulted and after Bakir ejaculated inside her.”
The defendants failed to adequately hire, supervise, monitor and/or instruct their employees, and failed to provide a controlled and secure environment for patrons, the lawsuit alleges.
But in defense papers, the defendants denied all allegations, and said they “attempted to provide a safe nightclub atmosphere at all times.”
They specifically denied any negligence or recklessness on their part. The defendants also denied that Bakir worked at the club. “Defendants had no reason to know that defendant Bakir may be a danger to anyone,” according to defense papers. “Defendants acted in a reasonable and prudent manner and the criminal actions of the individual Afif Bakir relieve defendants of any liability.”
The defendants also denied that they owned Pure.
“Defendants specifically deny that they owned, operated, possessed, managed, maintained and/or controlled the nightclub known as Pure or Club Pure or Voyeur Nightclub.”
Named as organizational defendants in the lawsuit are Esbert LLC, a limited-liability company based in Philadelphia, and Mayfield Social Club, a nonprofit social entity also based in Philadelphia.
Both organizations list Michael Weiss as their president.
Attorney Christopher J. Pakuris represents defendants Michael Weiss, William Weiss, Skubish, Mayfield Social Club and Esbert LLC.
Pakuris had no comment for this story.
Maura E. McKenna, an attorney for the plaintiff, also had no comment.
The plaintiff is seeking more than $50,000 in damages, maintaining the incident caused her extreme mental anguish and suffering, and reduced her ability to enjoy the “pleasures and enjoyments of life.”
Her lawsuit was filed in October 2009 in Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court, and has been assigned to Common Pleas Court Judge Jacqueline F. Allen.
Tim Cwiek can be reached at (215) 625-8501 ext. 208.