Lawsuit seeks damages for 2008 Pride after-party accident
By Glenn Gullickson

A Phoenix man is seeking damages for an injury he sustained in 2008 at a Pride after-party.

Attorneys for Christopher L. Smith filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County, and named as defendants Area Phoenix, the Phoenix Pride organization, NRES Phoenix Portfolio I and Does I-V.

The complaint, filed on April 6, is the result of an incident that occurred on April 12, 2008, at what was billed as “the official Phoenix Pride After-Party” at Area Phoenix, 2102 N. 23rd Ave. NRES Phoenix Portfolio I and Does I-V are named in the complaint as owners and operators of the property.

Smith’s complaint claims that the defendants “failed to adequately secure and/or remove platforms used as dancing boxes” at the premises and that he was injured as a “result of an unreasonably dangerous condition.”

Court papers say Smith “stepped up onto a dance platform, the platform slipped out from under him, causing him to fall on his dominate right hand fracturing three fingers which required surgical repair.” The complaint says Smith “sustained pain, annoyance, mental and emotional distress as the result of defendants’ negligence.”

The complaint asks for unspecified reasonable compensatory damages in excess of the court’s jurisdictional minimum. The Superior Court considers cases for amounts greater than $10,000.

In an e-mail to Phoenix Pride officials and Kevin Andrews, owner of Area Phoenix, which has since become Stratus, Smith said he was not going after their assets, but is using the lawsuit in an effort to pressure the insurance company to settle. He said his lawyers informed him that state law prohibited him from going after the insurance company directly.

In a telephone interview, Smith said his medical expenses have been up to $35,000. He said he had been working on a settlement with Area Phoenix’s insurance company without success.

He said he had worked in the past to raise money for Phoenix Pride and other organizations. At the time of the party, Smith owned Red Magazine, which was one of the event’s sponsors.

Paul Carroll, chair of Phoenix Pride, said the organization had been served with the complaint and had until May 27 to respond.

In a statement to Echo Magazine, Carroll said, “We believe we’ll prevail in this matter.” He said the costs of defending the action may have a short term impact on “the ability to support community programs, like the Phoenix Pride Foundation’s scholarships and grants … In other words, the true victim here is the Phoenix LGBT community.”

Smith is represented by Mack T. Jones and Mark A. Raczkowski, of Bohm & Jones, of Phoenix.