Family members of a man who died outside the Halifax Alehouse in late 2022 have filed two lawsuits against the bar, alleging it was negligent in employing the bouncer accused of killing him.
Over the summer, Alexander Pishori Levy was charged with manslaughter and criminal negligence in the Dec. 24, 2022 homicide of Ryan Michael Sawyer. At the time, Levy was employed as security staff at the bar.
Levy has pleaded not guilty to the charges on Jan. 5 and a date for the trial has yet to be set.
Around 1:15 a.m. on Dec. 24, police responded to a disturbance involving several people in the 1700 block of Brunswick Street. Upon arrival, officers located Sawyer, who was from Ajax, Ont., unresponsive on the sidewalk of Prince Street, near the Halifax Alehouse.
The 31-year-old was transported to the hospital, where he later died.
According to a lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia by Sawyer’s parents, who live in Fall River, N.S., Levy “intentionally” assaulted Sawyer, who was a customer of the Alehouse that evening, “choking Ryan until and after he lost consciousness.”
Both the Halifax Alehouse and Levy are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
“Levy acted with an intent to cause injury, damage, and loss to Ryan,” the statement of claim alleged.
It said Sawyer’s brother, Kyle, was also at the Alehouse that night and “yelled at Levy to stop choking Ryan because Levy was rendering Ryan unconscious.”
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The lawsuit said the Alehouse owed a duty to the plaintiffs to ensure Sawyer was reasonably safe on the premises, and alleged it breached that duty.
It said the bar permitted Levy to be employed when it “knew or ought to have known that he posed a risk to the safety of customers and visitors to the premises.”
It also claimed the Alehouse failed to adequately train employees to prevent assault and battery of customers.
The lawsuit seeks non-pecuniary damages including loss of care, companionship and guidance, and pecuniary damages including out-of-pocket expenses and funeral costs.
Sawyer’s brother, Kyle, has filed his own lawsuit against the bar.
The statement of claim alleges Alehouse security staff “wrongfully and intentionally committed an assault” against him “by, amongst other things, stomping and punching the plaintiff on his head and body.”
It said it was done in a manner “that was harsh, malicious, reprehensible, and disregarded the wellbeing of the plaintiff.”
The lawsuit said the Alehouse owed a duty to the plaintiff to ensure he was reasonably safe on the premises, and accuses the bar of breaching that duty.
It seeks both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages for pain and suffering, mental distress, and special damages.
The claims laid out in both lawsuits have not been proven in court.
Alehouse denies wrongdoing
The Halifax Alehouse is defending itself against both lawsuits, denying any wrongdoing.
The bar also denied the Sawyer brothers were customers of the Alehouse that evening.
A statement of defence filed by the Alehouse and Levy said they “further deny that they, or anyone for whom they were responsible at law, were negligent as alleged, or at all.”
It claimed the Alehouse employed “competent and adequately trained staff who acted reasonably on the date in question.”
If the plaintiffs did suffer damages — “which is not admitted but denied” — it was because the deceased provoked the incident, attacked security, trespassed, or involved himself in an altercation despite knowing it was dangerous to do so, the statement said.
The defendants are asking that the action be dismissed with costs “in an amount that this Honourable Court deems just and appropriate.”
A lawyer for the Alehouse declined to comment Thursday.
Other alleged incidents
Levy is also one of two Alehouse bouncers who are facing assault charges in relation to a separate incident at the bar on Oct. 10, 2022. The complainant alleges he was assaulted by staff members outside the bar.
Levy, along with Matthew Brenton Day, pleaded not guilty to assault in March 2023. The trial is scheduled to run from April 30 to May 2.
As well, a civil suit was filed against the Halifax Alehouse after an incident in August 2022. The suit alleges the bar’s bouncers badly beat a patron on Aug. 14, leaving him with physical and mental trauma.
Neither of these additional cases has been proven in court.
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