- the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre -- says she was raped by a patron and that the establishment urges its dancers to perform acts of prostitution.
In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, former Mitchell Brothers dancer Kathleen Pacello alleges that Jim Mitchell, president of the firm that owns the theater, approved building private booths in the theater ``in part to facilitate these illegal acts of prostitution.'' Pacello alleges in her suit against Mitchell and the theater that a patron raped her in one of the booths Feb. 7, 1999, and that she was fired in May after she reported to theater management that she had been raped and complained that the booths were unsafe for the dancers working at the club.
Pacello argued that Mitchell's theater operates in such a way that patrons would expect to have sex with dancers. Pacello cites theater ads that she said tell guests -- among other things --`What you do on your side of the curtain is your little secret.''
Her suit asks for unspecified damages. Pacello's lawyer, Richard Raines of Danville declined to talk about the case, and Pacello has not commented. Jim Mitchell's attorney, Nanci Clarence, said she believes that Pacello's lawyer is banking on the fact that Mitchell is still on parole for killing his brother, Artie, to try to frighten him into making a settlement.
"This suit is a shakedown," Clarence said. "We'll fight this to the end."
She said that Pacello did not report the incident to the theater for several days and that an investigation by management failed to ``corroborate her story with physical evidence.''
"There are guards within hearing distance of every one of these booths, and no one witnessed or heard anything,'' Clarence said. Clarence said that when she encouraged Pacello to file a police report, "She would say, 'I am a stripper and no one would take me seriously.' So our attempts to apprehend the assailant were somewhat stymied by her refusal to cooperate."
Clarence also denied that Pacello was fired in retaliation for speaking out about her reported rape. She said the dancer worked for some months after the incident and then left voluntarily. San Francisco police say they have no record of a complaint by Pacello.
On Feb. 27, 1991, Jim Mitchell kicked in the front door of Artie's home in Corte Madera home and fired eight shots, killing him. Jim Mitchell served less than three years in prison on a voluntary- manslaughter conviction and was paroled in October 1997. His parole will end this October.
Pacello's suit contends that employees "are strongly encouraged, when they will not perform acts of prostitution themselves, to 'refer' customers asking for these illegal acts to other employees'' who will perform such acts, the suit says. Clarence denied the prostitution allegation, saying that members of the Police Department's vice squad routinely drop by the club in plainclothes "and the dancers know they are there." When dancers are hired, they are required to sign a declaration that they will not engage in acts of prostitution and if they do that they will be fired, she said.
