As reported by the Hartford Courant, a bouncer working an Oscar party was the butt of unwanted racial slurs aimed at him by then-CEO of TicketNetwork D.V., and has now filed a personal injury lawsuit stating that the incident has caused him emotional distress.
The bouncer, R.B., worked the Oscar party at Real Art Ways – an arts organization in Hartford – on the evening of the alleged incident.
The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court on May 7, seeks $15,000 in damages from D.V. due to the event causing R.B "humiliation, embarrassment, loss of sleep."
The suit further states that D.V.'s "extreme and outrageous conduct was the cause of Plaintiff's emotional distress, suffering and duress and this duress may be permanent in nature."
D.V. maintains that he never inflicted any harsh racial words on R.B. His public relations company stated that his lawyers "filed a motion asking the superior court to throw out that lawsuit" and that D.V. wants "…an appropriately quick end to that case and moving on with (his) life."
D.V.'s attorneys attest that their client's behavior did not fall under the legal definition of conduct being "extreme and outrageous."
In the early morning hours of February 27, D.V. was arrested and charged with second-degree intimidation due to bias. The full police report listed the incident as a second-degree hate crime, second-degree threatening, second-degree breach of peace, first-degree criminal trespass and interfering with police.
Police also stated that D.V. was "mildly intoxicated" and gave officers some trouble.
The police report and the lawsuit are very similar in describing the events of the incident: After D.V. allegedly groped a woman during the Oscar party, R.B. was charged with the task of removing him from the premises.
Once the two men were outside, according to the suit, "The Defendant specifically called the Plaintiff 'you black mother (expletive)' and 'I have something for your black ass.'"
D.V. allegedly next threatened to call his driver over "to physically assault Plaintiff", then took a position on the street as if to begin a brawl, and ended up on the ground.
The suit differs from the police report at this part – police state that D.V. only took a fighting stance after R.B. had allegedly slapped the cell phone out of D.V.'s grip. Then, according to police, R.B. knocked D.V. to the ground.
At this time, according to the suit, the executive director of Real Art Ways also left the building in attempt to talk to D.V. The suit states that D.V. then turned on him and "profanely cursed the Executive Director…"
Donald Freeman is the attorney representing R.B. Freeman told reporters that his client has not required a hospital stay for his distress and has not lost sleep every night. However, according to Freeman, "this racial stuff affects people."
Hoffman added, "I think if the racial component had been left out, there'd be no bigotry charge and we wouldn't be talking."
If you have endured emotional or physical distress due to the actions of another party you have grounds for a lawsuit. Contact a personal injury lawyer from our directory to help you today!