Zombieland: Double Tap Actress Rosario Dawson Accused Of Transphobic Assault In Lawsuit

Zombieland: Double Tap actress Rosario Dawson, along with other members of her family, is being accused of a transphobic assault against a handyman according to a lawsuit.

The handyman was hired to work on the star’s home in California where the alleged assault took place.

Rosario Dawson, her mother Isabel Dawson, her stepfather Gregory Dawson, and her uncle Gustavo Vasquez are all named in the suit.

According to NBC News, Dedrek Finley, moved from New York to Los Angeles in December 2017 to work as a handyman for the Dawson family to “renovate and remodel Rosario’s personal residence.”

After moving into a North Hollywood home rented by the Dawson family, Finley would come out as transgender and informed the family they wanted to be called Dedrek and use the he/him pronouns.

Related: Zombieland: Double Tap Actress Rosario Dawson: ICE Raids Are “Part Of A Larger White Nationalist Narrative”

Finley’s lawsuit claims the “family misgendered him multiple times each day, with deliberate indifference as to the appropriate way to address Mr. Finley.” The suit also claims that Rosario Dawson “acted with deliberate indifference and did nothing to correct the situation.”

The suit claims that Rosario Dawson referred to Finley as “a grown woman.”

In February 2018, Finley was ordered to move out of the home that was being rented by the Dawson family, but refused to do so. NBC News reports the reason Finley did not move out of the home was “because there was no legal grounds for his eviction.”

Then on April 28, 2018, Finley claims the family assaulted him. The claim states that Rosario Dawson’s mother dragged him through a first-floor window by his arm before attacking him.

The lawsuit claims:

“Once Mr. Finley was lying helpless on the ground outside, Isabel, who is substantially larger than Mr. Finley, got on top of Mr. Finley’s body and began punching him.”

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It continues, “While beating Mr. Finley, Isabel screamed, ‘You’re not so much of a man now,’ which was a clear and denigrating reference to Mr. Finley’s gender identity.”

Finley also claims that Rosario Dawson participated in the assault. She allegedly sat on on top of Finley and was “actively restraining him while he was on the ground to ensure that her mother could continue battering him.”

A temporary restraining order was granted to Finley against Isabel Dawson a day after the alleged attack occurred according to the lawsuit.

Finley’s lawyer Tasha Alyssa Hill explained they had no choice, but to sue Dawson and her family.

“As his attorney, we have reached out numerous times to the Dawson family attorney seeking to resolve this before having to file suit.”

Hill added:

“Mr. Finley had a good relationship with the family, did work with them in New York and had a good enough relationship that they invited him to California and offered him a living situation and a full time working situation for the family. When they did that, they knew him as a lesbian woman. When he came out to California and decided to come out to them as a transgender man, that’s when things started going south.”

Hill told the LA Times, “The aggression that was shown to him by members of the Dawson family, and the nature of that aggression leads one to think that motivations were transphobic.”

“He just wants to get some sort of compensation, so he can get back on track with his life so he can put this incident behind him,” concluded Hill.

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