Steven Goff reports that D.C. United striker Charlie Davies has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the owner of a nightclub and the company that hosted a party
at which alcohol was served to the driver responsible for a car accident that severely injured the soccer player and killed another passenger.

The suit, filed in D.C. Superior Court last week, names Das Enterprises, which operates Shadow Room, and Red Bull North America, the host of the private event on Oct. 12, 2009, at the K Street establishment. The companies are accused of continuing to serve alcohol to Maria Alejandra Espinoza, even though, according to the suit, she “became visibly intoxicated.”

Espinoza was sentenced in March to two years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and maiming while driving intoxicated. The suit claims some of Davies’s injuries caused permanent disfigurement in the form of multiple scars and he will continue to face substantial medical expenses. It also says Davies “suffered, and will continue to suffer, great pain of body and mind.”

The suit also states that Davies was unable to continue playing for the U.S. national team, ending his hopes of competing at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. United acquired him on a one-year loan in January and, according to the MLS players’ union, is earning about $250,000 this season. He is second on the team in goals with 11 but has struggled to regain the playing form that propelled his career before the accident.