Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — The man who was sprayed in the face with a fire extinguisher near the Gallivan Center last month is suing the restaurant owner who confronted him over smoking a cigarette.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Salt Lake’s 3rd District Court, names former restaurant owner Alex Jamison, Jamison’s co-owner, and the Monkeywrench, Boltcutter and Cultiva vegan businesses he operated under Buds, LLC.
The woman who filmed the confrontation, Elaina Henderlite, is named as a plaintiff alongside Jonathan Bird. Henderlite’s video of Bird being sprayed on Sept. 20 went viral and led Jamison to divest himself from the vegan businesses he co-founded.
In the lawsuit, Bird’s attorneys allege the business transfer was unlawful and was intended to “keep him from seeking compensation for his damages against the businesses.”
It also seeks damages for the spraying itself, which the lawsuit says was from a distance of fewer than 2 feet and caused pain, burning, shortness of breath and headaches not just for Bird, but for Henderlite and another bystander. It says the “negative effects continued” after the assault.
In the filing, Bird’s attorneys say he was volunteering at the Urban Arts Festival when he asked a security guard where he might take a smoke break. As he smoked at the indicated location, it says, he was confronted by Jamison, who asked him to move away from his restaurant. Bird complied, even offering Jamison a high-five “to show that he meant no disrespect or desired to be confrontational." Jamison refused, the documents say.
But later, when Bird returned to that second location to smoke again, Jamison confronted him again.
“Bird calmly explained … that he had already moved from the original place to a second location to smoke his cigarette,” the filing says. “Bird also pointed out that Jamison had no issue with this secondary location the first time but had now apparently changed his previous demand.”
Sensing a confrontation, Henderlite began filming. After Jamison returned to his restaurant and emerged with a fire extinguisher, Henderlite can be heard in the video asking, “Are you really going to spray him with a fire extinguisher?” According to the documents, Jamison responded, "Yeah."
According to the lawsuit, Jamison claimed he sprayed Bird in "self-defense."
At this time, no criminal charges have been filed in the case.
After the incident, Jamison took to Facebook to announce that he was divesting himself from his businesses and attempted to explain his conduct. On the Monkeywrench Facebook page, Jamison said he was “deeply sorry” and that his “behavior was unnecessary, and no way to treat another person regardless of circumstance.”
But on his personal profile, Jamison said that he had never before received such a “smug refusal” when he asked a smoker to move.
“Who in their right mind would continue to smoke with a warning like that?” Jamison wrote, according to court documents. “I was defending my lungs. My customers’ lungs.”
Bird’s attorney, Kyle Adams, said he believes Jamison’s business transfers violate the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act. “It talks specifically about transferring away assets in anticipation of litigation or to avoid creditors,” Adams said. “We feel very strongly that that’s exactly what’s gone on.”
Adams said Jamison acted as a “bully” during the incident. “Basically, we feel that liability has been established, because he has what we see as a confession in these Facebook posts.”
Buds, LLC and Monkeywrench did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Public records do not yet name any representation for Jamison.
