WHAT A HEEL: A “Bastard” Sues A “Bum” -- The "Bum" Countersues
Three days before Thanksgiving, Houston lawyer Harry Arthur filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to shut down The Beacon, a homeless center operated by Christ Church Cathedral that provides meals, counseling and laundry service for homeless people, contending that it’s a “nuisance” to area property owners" like himself and created a "health hazard" because "persons attracted by the free meals, free laundry and other services, urinate, defecate and drop trash in the street, sidewalks, doorways and other private property areas of the neighbors."
Now, a countersuit has been filed – not by the church, but by a homeless U.S. Navy veteran who is “a regular client” of The Beacon, and is "ticked off really bad” that Arthur “disrespected” his family by calling him “a derelict,” reports Texas Lawyer:
Louis Charles Hamilton II filed a pro se suit seeking a minimum of $2.4 million in actual and punitive damages from Arthur and The Marine Building and an apology from Arthur in a local newspaper for allegations made in Christ Church Cathedral. …
Hamilton writes, "The Plaintiff will show this Honorable Court that at no time did the Plaintiff take a part in pissing, crapping and or vomiting or any other bodily fluid discharge being wrongfully placed at the property of the Defendants." Hamilton says he will prove to a judge that he is not a derelict and that Arthur and the building chose to discriminate against him.
In his petition, Hamilton asks 215th District Judge Steven Kirkland to award him $1.8 million in actual damages for defamation, discriminatory practices, emotional distress and mental anguish, $600,000 in punitives and a printed apology.
If he prevails Hamilton says he plans to share his windfall with the cathedral.
[Hat Tip: The Heel, an Ivy-educated attorney with a prestigious New York firm, and occasional contributor to this blog.]
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