Nightclub claims rival conspired to obtain business secrets

ST. ROBERT, Mo. -- A nightclub owner in an ongoing battle with the Army -- which briefly banned soldiers from his strip club near Fort Leonard Wood -- claims in a lawsuit that fort officials conspired with the owners of a rival nightclub to steal his confidential security procedures.

Louie Keen's lawsuit, filed Thursday in Pulaski County Circuit Court, does not name the Army as a defendant. It alleges, however, that the owners of the competing Twilite Zone "aided, abetted, conspired and acted in concert with agents of the U.S. Army" to hurt his businesses.

Keen declined to be more specific.

"All of our allegations are stated within the lawsuit," he said.

The Twilite Zone is not an adult business like Keen's strip club, Big Louie's. It offers music and other entertainment. But Keen also owns a non-nude nightclub, the Abyss, and formerly operated the similar Club Purgatory.

His lawsuit claims that the owners of the Twilite Zone, who are former military personnel, used that relationship with fort officials to obtain an unfair advantage.

"The Twilite Zone and/or its agents are former members of the armed services and dialogue continuously with members of the command structure at Fort Leonard Wood," the lawsuit reads in part.

Calls placed Saturday to the Twilite Zone went unanswered. Messages left with officials at Fort Leonard Wood went unreturned.

The lawsuit claims that the trouble began in March 2005, when the Army placed Big Louie's off limits to soldiers unless Keen could provide The Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board with information about his security plan and procedures, along with employee records.

Keen said he provided information on a security program that cost him more than $100,000 -- information, the lawsuit claims, that wound up in the hands of Twilite Zone owners.

The lawsuit also claims that "an agreement between Twilite Zone and members of the command structure at Fort Leonard Wood caused the Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board to make false and/or contrived findings about (Keen's) establishments in other to justify the off-limits order."

The Army lifted its order later in March 2005.

The lawsuit does not request specific damages -- although it does seek actual and punitive damages and attorney fees. It also seeks the return of all confidential business information.

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Information from: Waynesville Daily Guide