UH-OH, ROSARIO
Actress & fam sued in transphobic assault
Actress Rosario Dawson and several relatives have been sued by a transgender man who claims they subjected him to transphobic abuse while he worked for them as a handyman.
Dedrek Finley, 55, claims the “Rent” star’s mother and stepfather deliberately and repeatedly misgendered him in disparaging comments — and that Rosario ignored his complaints and took part in an assault that ended with the theft of his cell phone.
The family’s lawyer Alan Kossoff and reps for Rosario Dawson did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily News.
The actress, 40, is dating Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey.
In his 24-page complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles, Finley claims he was invited to Los Angeles in October 2017 to do construction work for Rosario.
He says the family convinced him to stay on in Los Angeles after an initial term of six months.
Finley says he officially “came out” as transgender to Rosario, her mom Isabel Dawson, her stepfather Gregory Dawson and her uncle Gustavo Vazquez in December 2017 after knowing the family for 20 years.
“Immediately after Mr. Finley coming out as transgender, the family misgendered him multiple times each day, with deliberate indifference,” the suit claims.
“Mr. Finley brought the misgendering and harassment to Rosario’s attention at least three times — and Rosario was a witness to the misgendering and transphobic verbal abuse by Isabel and Gregory — but Rosario, Mr. Finley’s employer, acted with deliberate indifference and did nothing to correct the situation,” the lawsuit alleges.
Finley claims he has cellphone video of one verbal assault allegedly waged by Rosario’s mother.
The suit says that in February 2018, Isabel ordered him to move out of his home, which was paid for by the family, but continued living there because he claims the request was improper.
He claims Rosario and her mother confronted him on April 28, 2018. Isabel ripped off a window screen and dragged him out of the window by his arm.
“Once Mr. Finley was lying helpless on the ground outside, Isabel, who is substantially larger than Mr. Finley, got on top of Mr. Finley’s body and began punching him,” court papers reveal.
“Mom, stop being petty,” Rosario allegedly responded.
“Initially, because of Rosario’s exclamation, Mr. Finley believed that Rosario was going to pull Isabel off of him. However, Rosario ... sat down on top of Mr. Finley, actively restraining him while he was on the ground to ensure that her mother could continue battering him,” the paperwork states.
Finley is suing for assault, battery and violation of his civil rights. He’s asking for real and punitive damages to be decided by a civil trial.