BULLBUSTER
Gal latest to sue bar over mechanical bronc conk
IF YOU MESS with the bull, you get the horns — even if the beast is only mechanical.
A drunk patron sued the popular Midtown bar Johnny Utah’s for allowing her to ride its notorious mechanical bull — an adventure that left her with a torn ACL.
Jocelyn Burmeister, of Suffolk County, L.I., filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court against the country-themed bar, seeking damages to be determined at trial.
“I went out to celebrate a good friend of mine that was getting married and stepped out of my comfort zone and this happened,” Burmeister told the Daily News on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old says in papers filed last week that she was “visibly intoxicated” on March 18 when she was allowed to climb on the mechanical menace.
Burmeister “was violently thrown off the bull before having a chance to mount the device, causing life-debilitating injuries and surgeries,” according to court papers.
The suit was first reported by DNAinfo.
Burmeister’s attorney, Alexander Karasik, said his client underwent surgery last week.
“She didn’t even have a chance to get situated and the bull was thrust into action,” Karasik said. “She didn’t get a chance to get her other leg onto the bull.”
A message left with Johnny Utah’s was not returned. Patrons are required to sign waivers before riding the bull, which the bar’s website calls a “ride at your own risk attraction.”
The bull, surrounded by padding and operated by a bar employee, has been the subject of other lawsuits.
In 2008, two patrons, Rachel Love and Aaron Schnore, filed separate suits against the bar alleging they shouldn’t have been allowed to mount the mechanical bull because they were drunk. Both said they suffered injuries as a result.
A failed urban cowboy, Christopher Haynes, sued in 2011, alleging he broke his shinbone after being bucked from the bull.
In 2014, another patron, Leonard Barstein, sued, saying he was tossed from the bull on Super Bowl Sunday. He landed awkwardly, breaking an ankle and tearing a ligament. Karasik represented Barstein and said the case was settled for under $100,000.
The bar’s culture was the subject of another 2014 lawsuit. More than 50 employees charged they toiled in a “hypersexualized work environment” that made money by “exploiting, degrading and humiliating its female employees.” Staffers alleged they were required to ride the mechanical bull without shirts on. The suit was settled in 2015 for an undisclosed amount.
Karasik argues in his new suit that the bull qualifies as an amusement ride, and that Johnny Utah’s is not properly training its operators.
“We have discovered this place operates a bull without a license,” he said.
She didn’t even have a chance to get situated and the bull was thrust into action.
Alexander Karasik, attorney for Jocelyn Burmeister