Same-Sex Couple Sues Dodgers Over Alleged Security-Guard Assault

LOS ANGELES, CA — A same-sex couple is suing the Dodgers, alleging one plaintiff was assaulted and battered without provocation by a Dodger Stadium security guard in June while the other plaintiff suffered emotional distress from being a witness.

Kimberly Ilas and her spouse, Karen Lee Hanselman, filed the amended suit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging assault; battery; false imprisonment; civil rights violations; negligent hiring, retention and supervision; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and loss of consortium.

The plaintiffs seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. A Dodger spokesman on Monday declined to comment on the suit.

Ilas and Hanselman went to the June 13 game between the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants on June 13. They were walking to view a special light show the Dodgers planned to stage on the field after the game when they took a shortcut because of the size of the crowd, the suit states.

While the couple was passing through a gap of people, a security guard told the plaintiffs to "go up," confusing Ilas as to why, but she complied anyway, the suit states. However, without warning, the guard "attacked, tackled and pinned plaintiff Kimberly, causing her to sustain serious bodily injuries," the suit alleges.

Hanselman, as Ilas' spouse, "watched in horror as her partner was brutally attacked," leaving Hanselman with "severe emotional distress" for which she has obtained medical and psychological treatment, the suit alleges.

Ilas and Hanselman believe the alleged actions of the guard violate the rules of Dodger security and guest services manual, the suit states.

City News Service