Boston firefighter and bar sued over beating allegations

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The 68-year-old man who ended up in hospital after being badly beaten is suing Boston fire authorities and the nearby Faneuil Hall bar.

Gary Steele, the man who was injured, and his wife, Maribeth Steele, filed suit this week in Suffolk Superior Court, alleging negligence by JJ Donovan’s Tavern and Robert Buckley, the man accused of having him beaten.

Prosecutors, who charged Buckley with assault and battery on a person over 60 causing grievous bodily harm, said Steele was with relatives for a family party outside JJ Donovans Tavern in the market area of ​​Faneuil Hall in the early hours of Sunday morning when a man attacked him, knocking him to the ground and causing him serious injuries.

Police later tracked down the assailant and identified him as Buckley, the prosecutor’s office said.

Buckley, a Boston firefighter, is on leave from the department following the allegations.

According to the complaint filed in the lawsuit, the family was celebrating the Steeles’ daughter’s engagement when “there was an altercation between JJ Donovan’s patrons which began in the tavern and spilled outside.” .

The lawsuit says Gary Steele wasn’t one of them, but when it happened, bar workers shut down the place and kicked everyone out.

This is, according to the suit, where the beating occurred.

Thomas Flaws, the attorney representing the Steeles, who has also used famed Boston public relations firm Regan Communications, said a lawsuit like this is the best way to figure out what happened.

“The family wants answers,” said Flaws, attorney at Altman Nussbaum Shunnarah Trial Attorneys. He said they were looking for surveillance footage and other documents from the night.

The attorney representing Buckley in the ongoing criminal case declined to comment.

No one able to comment on the bar could be reached on Tuesday.

Flaws, who said the family was grateful for the care Gary Steele received at Massachusetts General Hospital, told the Herald that Steele was on a ventilator for a time after the beating and is now working on walking again . The lawsuit describes the injuries as “catastrophic” and prosecutors said they could affect Steele for the rest of his life.

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