Kelowna strip club manager wins damages after being sucker-punched

The manager of a strip club in Kelowna has been awarded almost $90,000 after he was sucker-punched by an angry patron in 2019.

According to a recent Supreme Court of B.C. ruling, David Joseph Habib was working at the Liquid Zoo in downtown Kelowna on June 19, 2019 when defendant Brandon Daniel Wilson and a 19-year-old female friend entered after a long drinking session to celebrate the girl’s birthday.

Court heard that once the pair arrived the female sat at the back of the bar and began talking to three older men, while Wilson sat close to the stage. Wilson was in a relationship with the female’s mom at the time.

Habib, 62, was described as an accomplished boxer who operates the Kelowna Boxing Club. In the year before the incident he won a gold medal for his age group at the Boxing World Championships.

In her judgment, Justice Briana Hardwick wrote that soon after the female entered the club it was identified by staff that she was highly intoxicated. Habib approached her and asked who she was with and offered her water.