A man claiming he was assaulted at a now-closed Vancouver bar sued the establishment in a BC Civil Resolution Tribunal dispute, but the legal fight didn’t go his way.
Walter Everall took the bar to court, claiming $5,000 in damages for physical, mental and emotional damage.
While the establishment doesn’t dispute that an incident occurred, it claims that the story isn’t as clear-cut as Everall suggested.
The tribunal referred to the bar as The Hart Room Limited or HRL.
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Located in Gastown, The Hart was a pub and venue for live music that opened its doors in April 2022 and closed earlier this year.
According to the tribunal decision, Everall claims he was assaulted by a bartender, who at the time was the bar’s owner, George Hart.
Everall suggests that “a bartender” attacked him while he was at the bar, while HRL says that Everall refused to pay his bar tab and became aggressive with Hart. HRL also claimed that Everall assaulted Hart and was forced to defend himself. HRL also claimed $5,000 for Everall’s unpaid tab, lost sales during the incident, and loss of earnings “due to alleged mental effects preventing Mr. Hart from bartending.”
He said he said
Video evidence helped detail the actual events of the night of October 1, 2022.
Everall and a companion ordered a beer and an appetizer each. Everall claims the pair finished their beers while waiting for food, but the food didn’t come. Everall told the bartender he was leaving and not paying for the poor service.
Everall admits that the police were called at some point, and then he walked outside.
“He says the bartender blocked his companion from leaving, and Mr. Everall told the bartender to ‘leave her out of it.'”
HRL disputed none of the above, but both parties’ versions of events changed after that.
Everall says the bartender followed him outside, grabbed his throat, and punched his chest. Everall says his phone fell, and he went back inside to get his phone from the bartender, who had allegedly grabbed it. Everall says the bartender punched him in the mouth, and then he fell to the floor. Everall says he never attacked the bartender.
HRL provided a video of some of the events and claimed that after Everall tried to leave without paying, Hart attempted to settle things amicably by having the police deal with it. HRL says Everall eventually stormed out and that he was intoxicated and aggressive, attacking Hart before police got there.
Hart told Everall’s companion that they couldn’t leave without paying. Hart claims that Everall came running up from behind, screamed at Hart, and pushed him with both hands. Hart agrees that he picked up Everall’s phone and would return it after Everall paid. After that, Hart claims that Everall continued to attack him and then decided to defend himself.
Hart said it was the only way he felt Everall would stop attacking him.
After reviewing the video, the tribunal agreed with Hart’s version of events and that Everall instigated the incident.
“Was Mr. Hart’s contact with Mr. Everall disproportionate? I find that it was not,” the tribunal declared.
The tribunal dismissed the case, awarding no damages to either party due to this Vancouver bar fight.
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