Andy Brossard uses a rake to smooth the sand in the bunker on the sixth hole at the Lakewood Country Club on Aug. 23, 2017. (Seth McConnell/Denver Post)
The real estate brokerage JLL claims that it cannot be held liable for an industrial broker’s alleged assault of a developer at the Lakewood Country Club because he snuck off to what the broker called a “really boozy” golf tournament on a Monday afternoon without the company’s knowledge.
“Mr. Steitz did not consider the tournament to be a work event, and he was actively trying to conceal his attendance from JLL to avoid being perceived negatively for golfing and drinking on a weekday,” attorneys for the firm wrote of Nick Steitz in an Aug. 13 court filing.
Steitz, who played three years as an NFL lineman before becoming a broker and joining JLL in 2016, was sued in January by Brad Eide, a developer with Denver-based Elevate Cos.
As Eide tells it, he and Steitz met for the first time at a June 2024 golf outing for real estate execs that was hosted by RK Industries, a construction company. Soon after meeting, Steitz lifted Eide up “and held him over his shoulder for reasons unknown,” Eide says.
Steitz, who is listed in the lawsuit at 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, allegedly bounced the much smaller developer on his shoulder before slamming him to the ground, striking a table on the way down. Eide broke a collarbone in the scuffle, according to JLL’s court filing.
Steitz denies picking Eide up, holding him over his shoulder, bouncing him or slamming him. His response to the developer’s lawsuit claims he “acted properly and reasonably in response to” Eide’s physical contact or threats of contact in the clubhouse. The Lakewood Country Club, which is being sued alongside Steitz and JLL, also denies doing anything wrong.
A four-day jury trial is scheduled for May 2026. JLL believes it should not have to take part.
“JLL cannot be vicariously liable because Mr. Steitz’s presence at the tournament had nothing to do with his work with JLL,” the brokerage wrote to Judge Stacy Guillon last week.
First of all, Steitz is an independent contractor, not an employee, according to JLL. But even if he was an employee, Steitz was at the tournament “for purely personal reasons, to have a ‘hell of a time’ at a ‘boozy’ event,” JLL says, using Steitz’s words from a recent deposition.
“He also drank six alcoholic beverages at the tournament before the incident, which he would not have done if he had been intending to perform work for JLL that afternoon,” according to the brokerage, which claims he consumed three Coors Lights and three White Claws.
Employers can be legally liable for the actions of their employees when those employees are acting within the scope of their job. The question for Judge Guillon of the Douglas County District Court is whether Steitz was a JLL employee and at the event for work.
Attorneys for Eide and Steitz declined comment. They are Josh Hotchkiss at Ramos Law for Eide and Kevin Ripplinger and Bryan Patterson at Patterson Ripplinger for Steitz.
JLL’s lawyers are Christopher Bryan and Sean Carlson with Hall & Evans in Denver.
Andy Brossard uses a rake to smooth the sand in the bunker on the sixth hole at the Lakewood Country Club on Aug. 23, 2017. (Seth McConnell/Denver Post)
The real estate brokerage JLL claims that it cannot be held liable for an industrial broker’s alleged assault of a developer at the Lakewood Country Club because he snuck off to what the broker called a “really boozy” golf tournament on a Monday afternoon without the company’s knowledge.
“Mr. Steitz did not consider the tournament to be a work event, and he was actively trying to conceal his attendance from JLL to avoid being perceived negatively for golfing and drinking on a weekday,” attorneys for the firm wrote of Nick Steitz in an Aug. 13 court filing.
Steitz, who played three years as an NFL lineman before becoming a broker and joining JLL in 2016, was sued in January by Brad Eide, a developer with Denver-based Elevate Cos.
As Eide tells it, he and Steitz met for the first time at a June 2024 golf outing for real estate execs that was hosted by RK Industries, a construction company. Soon after meeting, Steitz lifted Eide up “and held him over his shoulder for reasons unknown,” Eide says.
Steitz, who is listed in the lawsuit at 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, allegedly bounced the much smaller developer on his shoulder before slamming him to the ground, striking a table on the way down. Eide broke a collarbone in the scuffle, according to JLL’s court filing.
Steitz denies picking Eide up, holding him over his shoulder, bouncing him or slamming him. His response to the developer’s lawsuit claims he “acted properly and reasonably in response to” Eide’s physical contact or threats of contact in the clubhouse. The Lakewood Country Club, which is being sued alongside Steitz and JLL, also denies doing anything wrong.
A four-day jury trial is scheduled for May 2026. JLL believes it should not have to take part.
“JLL cannot be vicariously liable because Mr. Steitz’s presence at the tournament had nothing to do with his work with JLL,” the brokerage wrote to Judge Stacy Guillon last week.
First of all, Steitz is an independent contractor, not an employee, according to JLL. But even if he was an employee, Steitz was at the tournament “for purely personal reasons, to have a ‘hell of a time’ at a ‘boozy’ event,” JLL says, using Steitz’s words from a recent deposition.
“He also drank six alcoholic beverages at the tournament before the incident, which he would not have done if he had been intending to perform work for JLL that afternoon,” according to the brokerage, which claims he consumed three Coors Lights and three White Claws.
Employers can be legally liable for the actions of their employees when those employees are acting within the scope of their job. The question for Judge Guillon of the Douglas County District Court is whether Steitz was a JLL employee and at the event for work.
Attorneys for Eide and Steitz declined comment. They are Josh Hotchkiss at Ramos Law for Eide and Kevin Ripplinger and Bryan Patterson at Patterson Ripplinger for Steitz.
JLL’s lawyers are Christopher Bryan and Sean Carlson with Hall & Evans in Denver.
