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Bristol Police Officer Awarded $150,000 Settlement After Hard Rock Casino VIP Dispute
Posted on: October 2, 2026, 03:39h.
Last updated on: October 5, 2026, 05:30h.
Key Points
- A Bristol, Virginia, police officer won a $150,000 defamation judgment after a casino patron falsely accused her on TikTok of assault during an incident at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol
- The patron’s videos accumulated more than 1.2 million views, prompting the police department to release body camera footage that disputed her claims and showed her hostile behavior
- A federal jury deliberated for just 20 minutes before awarding Officer Lilly-Kay Tomlinson $75,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages
A Bristol, Virginia, police officer has been awarded $150,000 in compensatory and punitive damages following a federal lawsuit stemming from a September 2025 incident at a local casino.
On Sept. 6, 2025, casino security at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol requested on-site Bristol Police Officer Lilly-Kay Tomlinson assist in addressing two patrons suspected of entering the Plum Lounge—a VIP area reserved for qualifying Unity by Hard Rock rewards members—without authorization.
Upon being approached, one of the patrons, later identified as Stephanie Lynn Bates, became confrontational, shouting that Tomlinson had targeted the wrong person. Bates, a self-described social media influencer, claimed she and her husband had lawfully accessed the lounge using their rewards cards.
Tomlinson stated she attempted to de-escalate the dispute, but Bates’ behavior escalated, leading the officer to inform the couple they faced arrest if they did not immediately leave the premises.
Bates subsequently posted a series of videos to TikTok detailing the encounter, alleging Tomlinson forcibly and wrongly removed her from the property and “assaulted” her by yanking her arm. The videos accumulated more than 1.2 million views and 58,000 likes.
Defamation Lawsuit and Body Camera Evidence
In response to the viral posts, the Bristol Police Department released body camera footage of the incident to address the claims of officer misconduct.
You’re here for me? What the f***? You ain’t here for me, baby,” Bates can be heard saying in the body camera footage. Bates then tells Tomlinson that she “better get your facts straight” and calls her a “dumb b***h.”
Two months after the incident, Tomlinson filed a federal defamation lawsuit against Bates, alleging the social media posts contained false statements that damaged her professional reputation.
Court documents revealed that while Bates visited a hospital following the incident, medical staff determined she sustained no physical injuries.
Verdict and Financial Damages
A federal jury deliberated for 20 minutes before returning a verdict in favor of Tomlinson, awarding the officer $75,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages.
I think there’s an importance in standing up for yourself. I think with law enforcement you have to stand up for what’s right and what’s wrong. It felt like what was done was a lie and was wrong,” Tomlinson said after the verdict, as reported by WCYB NBC 5 .
Prior to the judgment, Bates offered an apology in court, acknowledging she could have handled the situation “a hundred times better.”
Public property records list Bates’ residence in White Pine, Tennessee, where real estate estimates value the three-bedroom home at approximately $298,900. It remains unclear whether the defendant has the immediate liquidity to satisfy the $150,000 judgment.
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