The Los Angeles Dodgers have responded to a lawsuit filed by a man who sued the team alleging he was wrongfully ejected by security guards on “Hello Kitty Night” at Dodger Stadium in 2023 by denying his allegations and saying the plaintiff should pay for their legal costs.
Mark Findler’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges civil rights violations, assault, battery, negligence and negligent hiring, retention and supervision. Findler seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit filed Jan. 31.
But in court papers filed Tuesday, Dodger lawyers deny all of Findler’s allegations and cite multiple defenses, including that the guards acted in self-defense and did not intend to violate Findler’s civil rights.
Findler should “take nothing” through his complaint and the Dodgers should be able to recover their legal costs from the plaintiff, the team lawyers further state in their court papers.
According to his suit, Findler and a friend went to the stadium on Aug. 3, 2023, to see the game between the home team and the Oakland A’s, and both were given a promotional Hello Kitty bobblehead doll by the staff at the upper northeast gate.
Findler saw other patrons with more than one doll, so he asked the staff if he could get another for his girlfriend, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff was advised to go to a different entry gate and obtain a second one.
Findler allegedly was given a hostile reaction by the attendant at the first alternate gate and was told he was given wrong information, but the staff member also allegedly mentioned to the plaintiff that “if he had a problem” he could speak to an employee in a black hat, whom Findler assumed would be a supervisor.
But Findler was unable to locate anyone with a black hat, and he returned to the employee at the second gate for help, and she again told him, “Oh well, you got some bad information,” and did not give him further assistance, the suit states.
Findler gave up and was inside the stadium when he was grabbed from behind by two security team members, including one with a casual business suit and the name tag “Rey,” then handcuffed and ejected, the suit states.
Findler, who was not told why he was forced to leave, was injured during the interaction, and the guards joked that they could not find the key to unlock the handcuffs when he complained they were too tight, the suit alleges. When they did remove the cuffs, the guards told Findler he would be arrested if he tried to re-enter the venue, the suit states.
