A Sikh man who was beaten and left unconscious with multiple fractures outside a Queens restaurant last year has filed a lawsuit against the restaurant and the five men accused of attacking him.
Rajinder Singh Khalsa, 55, told reporters on Tuesday the injuries he sustained as a result of the July 11, 2004 beating, including partial blindness, left him unable to work for four months.
Khalsa, who runs a car service in a New York City suburb, spoke in the Lower Manhattan offices of the Sikh Coalition, a rights group that helped him get legal counsel.
He said his lawyer filed the lawsuit on Monday in State Supreme Court in Queens.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Four men from Long Island and one from Queens were arrested in August 2004 and indicted on charges of second-degree assault, second-degree assault as a hate crime, and second-degree harassment in connection with the attack.
The men, who are scheduled to go on trial in October, face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Khalsa's lawsuit also names the Villa Russo Restaurant, outside which the attack occurred. Attorney Amardeep Singh, the legal director of the Sikh Coalition, said the restaurant, which was hosting a party, is being sued under a law that bars restaurants from serving alcohol to people already intoxicated. Singh said the lawsuit alleges the men had been drinking in the restaurant.
