BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Almost a year ago to the day, The Blackthorn Irish Pub was the scene of a scuffle between two off duty, uniformed Buffalo Firefighters — Richard Manley and Derek Rose.
Now a civil lawsuit has been filed, alleging the fight was an intentional act and that Richard Manley was negligent.
Rose suffered severe injuries that placed him in the ICU in critical condition for weeks.
“The Rose family has decided that it is necessary and important for them to pursue civil justice and to try to obtain compensation for the injuries that Derek sustained. That’s really the takeaway from this case. Mr. Manley has the right to defend himself, he has a right to claim that he wasn’t the aggressor, that it wasn’t an assault that he wasn’t negligent,” Terry Connors, legal analyst, tells News 4.
The lawsuit claims Manley was the aggressor in the fight, trying to hurt rose. It further alleges that Manley was negligent — meaning he failed to behave responsibly.
Legal analyst Terry Connors has no role in the case, but told News 4 the claims are seemingly opposite, but were combined for a reason.
“In New York, you cannot insure intentional acts. They combined a claim of negligence… an unintentional result of an intentional act, and therefore, they are going to try to make sure that if there’s coverage available that insurance would apply under those circumstances,” said Connors.
The District Attorney’s Office investigated the case and is not pressing criminal charges.
He says the next steps are the evidence discovery phase and taking depositions. The case could go to trial if it does not settle.