BROOKLYN, N.Y., July 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Exxon Mobil Corporation, Burger King Company, and Bolla Oil Corp. (and affiliates), are among the defendants named in a negligence-wrongful death complaint that alleges they are jointly responsible for the July 29, 2023, preventable stabbing death of beloved dancer-choreographer O’Shae Sibley, 28. The acclaimed artist was fatally stabbed in front of the Bolla convenience store and gas station at 1935 Coney Island Ave., Brooklyn, after hate-filled threats were directed to Mr. Sibley and his friends as an employee of the premises sat idly by and watched. The filing yesterday in New York state court was announced by the law firms Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky and Sullivan & Brill, LLP, that jointly represent O’Shae’s estate.
“O’Shae was a brilliant artist, and a peace-loving member of the LGBTQ community, who lived to bring joy to the world, on stage and to those around him,” said attorney Larry Bendesky, of Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky. “While criminal charges are pending against the assailant, our firm intends to hold the premises owners and operators responsible for allowing loiterers to harass and intimidate customers. We intend to prove that those defendants failed to enforce simple policies that responsible store owner have in place, including limiting loitering, training employees in de-escalation of confrontations, and calling the police if their customers are in danger.”
Robert W. Zimmerman, Mr. Bendesky’s Partner in the Firm, added, “Hate and intimidation have no place in this country, and a gas station and convenience store cannot serve as its breeding ground. It is disgraceful that O’Shae was harassed and killed simply for being himself. It is just as appalling that this killing took place at a store that allowed dangerous loiterers to harass customers, and where the store’s clerk came out to simply watch the intimidation rather than calling the police or de-escalating the situation. A police station was blocks away, and a call would have saved O’Shae’s life.”
In addition to Mr. Bendesky and Mr. Zimmerman, the Estate is represented by Firm attorney Samuel Haaz and New York local counsel Joseph Sullivan of Sullivan & Brill, LLP.
The complaint, filed in New York State Supreme Court, Kings County, seeks compensatory and punitive damages from the defendants. The lawsuit asserts that the defendants had complete control over the premises and argues they should be held liable for their grossly negligent security failures and depraved inaction in watching a young innocent man being berated and ultimately killed without calling authorities.
The complaint states the loiterers “harassed and threatened O’Shae Sibley and his friends…as Defendants’ employee … observed and inserted himself in the altercation and had real-time notice of the racist and homophobic slurs spewed at O’Shae Sibley.” It adds, “the Defendants failed to adequately train and provide resources to the Employee on the steps to be taken when racist and/or homophobic slurs were levied on the premises, when intimidation by loiterers of customers was used, and when confrontation was foreseeable.” The store security camera video clearly shows a store employee coming out of the building, standing next to the harassers, and watching the intimidation, but never attempting to de-escalate the threats or even call police.
O’Shae’s death sent shockwaves through the LGBT community, the city of New York, and the nation. Tributes poured in from near and far, including those expressed by Beyonce and Spike Lee. NYPD Det. Brian Downey, president of the Gay Officers Action League, said after the attack that it showed that even in New York gay people are vulnerable to violence, counter to the image of the city that has long been viewed as a “refuge, a place of safety” for LGBTQ community members.
Contacts:
Robert W. Zimmerman / [email protected] / 215-575-3898
Larry Bendesky / [email protected] / 215-575-2952
Steph Rosenfeld / [email protected] / 215-514-4101
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f58b0388-efaa-4253-86ab-cdcd34e3c7c6
