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Lambda Legal Seeks Justice for Gay Man Who Was Beaten
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"Mr. Timmerman was singled out and beaten by his attackers because he is gay."
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(Platteville, Wisconsin, September 28, 2006) — In court papers filed today, Lambda Legal seeks recovery for damages suffered by Brett Timmerman after he was attacked because he is gay.
“Mr. Timmerman was singled out and beaten by his attackers because he is gay,” said James P. Madigan, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office in Chicago. “He suffered physical as well as emotional injury and has shouldered significant expense in the aftermath of the attack.”
Brett Timmerman, a student at UW-Platteville, at the time of the assault, was about to walk into a local sandwich shop when his would-be attackers called him a 'faggot’. Then Oden Waite and Enove Urias slapped and spit in Timmerman’s face and struck him in the head before pushing him to the ground. When the police arrived they pulled Waite off of Mr. Timmeman and arrested Waite. Both Waite and Urias would later falsely accuse Mr. Timmerman of starting the fight that led to a citation for disorderly conduct against Mr. Timmerman that prosecutors later dismissed.
Lambda Legal’s argument invokes the Wisconsin hate crime law which allows civil suits after someone engages in conduct that would trigger a hate crime penalty even if the person was not charged with or convicted of a crime.
“Every day that I went out in Platteville outside of the University, I was harassed — I couldn’t even go to the bathroom alone out of fear of being attacked again. I was constantly looking over my shoulder,” said Brett Timmerman, plaintiff in the lawsuit. “I am filing this lawsuit because I want to make sure that no one else has to go through what I went through.”
Attorneys from the law firm McDermott Will & Emery serve as co-counsel for Lambda Legal.
The case is Timmerman v. Waite and Urias.
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Jackie Yodashkin: 212-809-8585 ext. 229
Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.
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