Former NFL star Shawne Merriman has been included in a $4 million judgment arising from the wrongful death of Playboy employee Kimberly Fattorini, who died of an overdose in 2017.
A Los Angeles judge entered the judgment on October 5 against Merriman, J.P. Castro, Monica Maass and Elias Wehbe, more than nine years after Fattorini’s death.
The award follows a jury finding last year that Merriman and the other defendants were liable. The damages were awarded to Fattorini’s parents, DeAnn and Ferdinand Fattorini.
Her parents filed a lawsuit against Merriman in 2019, alleging that their daughter had been drugged and possibly sexually assaulted before she overdosed after a night of partying.
The lawsuit claimed Fattorini had texted a club promoter saying that Merriman’s friend had put GHB, commonly known as a date-rape drug, in her drink. Her death was ruled accidental, with alcohol, cocaine and GHB found in her system.
Merriman has previously denied wrongdoing. A representative for the former Chargers linebacker said the allegations were baseless and that police had investigated without finding evidence of wrongdoing by him.
The judgment also ruled in favour of nightclub defendants including The Highlight Room, Tao Group and The Warwick. They were not ordered to pay damages to Fattorini’s family.
