The owners of a bar in downtown Quincy formerly known as The Barn appear to have defeated, for now, a civil rights lawsuit lodged by a black women's basketball player who was brutally assaulted by the bar's white male former owner in a perceived racially motivated attack, after a Springfield federal judge ruled the plaintiff and attorneys appear to not have followed rules spelled out in federal and state civil rights laws before filing suit.
On July 16, U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough dismissed, for now, the lawsuit brought by Jazzpher Evans against the owners of The Barn of Quincy and its successor company, The Well.
The dismissal was without prejudice, meaning Evans and her attorneys can attempt to resurrect the lawsuit, if they can address the legal shortcomings identified by the judge.
U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough
| Office of Senator Dick Durbin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
However, for now, the decision would appear to put an end to the case lodged against The Barn and its owners.
The lawsuit centers on the physical attack launched, allegedly without provocation, against Evans by the former owner of The Barn, Steve Holman, a white male, who was then 47 years old, according to court documents.
Evans is identified in court documents as a black woman and a "member of the LGBTQ community."
Evans also plays for the Quincy University women's basketball team.
In published reports, Evans is identified as a former resident of Joliet, in Chicago's southwest suburbs.
According to court documents, Evans and a white friend, Caroline Spagnola, were in The Barn around 1 a.m. on April 4, 2021. They allegedly sought to get the attention of the bar's DJ by jumping up and down "for a short period of time."
According to court documents, Homan then allegedly "charged past Ms. Spagnola and began attacking" Evans, pushing Evans against a wall and shouting at her to get out of the bar. Homan allegedly threw Evans to the ground and placed Evans in a full chokehold, allegedly until Evans lost consciousness, and dragged Evans out of the bar.
Spagnola allegedly pleaded with Homan to stop the assault and told Homan that Evans was female. Homan, however, allegedly said he "didn't care" and that he thought Evans was male "or a boy."
The attack resulted in criminal charges against Homan, who pleaded guilty to battery in 2023 in Adams County.
However, the attack garnered widespread attention and protests in Quincy, seeking justice for the perceived racially motivated attack.
In response to the protests, Quincy city officials investigated potential liquor license violations against Homan and The Barn. A day before a hearing concerning those potential violations, Homan relinquished his license and control of The Barn.
In June 2021, an establishment known as The Well opened in The Barn's former location in downtown Quincy. The Well was led by its company president Linda Beers, identified in court documents as the former president of The Barn.
In 2023, Evans, through attorney Keenan Saulter, of Tinley Park, a community in Chicago's south suburbs, filed suit in federal court in the Central District of Illinois, asserting Homan, Beers and the companies they led, including The Barn and The Well, must pay for the attack on Evans.
The lawsuit leveled counts of assault and battery against Homan.
However, the lawsuit also brought eight counts of civil rights violations under federal and state law against all of the defendants.
Beers moved to dismiss the lawsuit, saying she should not be held responsible for Homan's actions.
In the months since Beers moved to dismiss the case, however, Judge Myerscough noted Evans' lawyers have not responded to the motion to dismiss, as required by court rules.
But while that alone could justify dismissal of those particular counts, the judge said Evans' civil rights counts should be dismissed in their entirety against all defendants because Evans did not abide by proper legal procedures before filing suit.
Particularly, the judge noted neither Evans nor the legal team gave proper notice of the alleged civil rights violations to the Illinois Department of Human Rights before filing suit.
Myerscough noted such notices are required by federal civil rights law "when a state or local law prohibits such discrimination and the state or local authority is authorized to grant or seek relief from such discrimination."
If that notice is not provided, Myerscough said, "federal courts do not have jurisdiction to decide the dispute."
Myerscough said Evans was required to notify the Illinois Department of Human Rights "within 180 days after the date that a civil rights violation allegedly has been committed." under state law. Plaintiffs can then file suit only after receiving "a final report from the IDHR" concerning the alleged civil rights violation, or if "the IDHR fails to issue a report within a year after the charge is filed."
In this case, Myerscough said, the court record includes no reference to any such notice to the IDHR.
So, the judge said, she lacks jurisdiction to hear the civil rights-related counts in Evans' complaint.
But further, Myerscough said, Evans' lawsuit also falls short, because it was filed under Title II of the federal Civil Rights Act, which requires Evans to show "she is likely to be turned away (from the bar) in the future, such as her intent to return to The Well ... in the future, in order to have standing to seek injunctive relief."
The judge said Evans cannot do so at this point, which dooms the lawsuit. The judge also dismissed all of Evans' state law claims, as well.
Attorney Keenan Saulter did not respond to a request for comment from The Record.
Myerscough was appointed to the court by former President Barack Obama.