Andy Dick files suit against man who punched him outside New Orleans nightclub

Comedian seeks compensation for medical expenses and lost wages, among other damages

Andy Dick on 21 February 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Maury Phillips/Getty Images for GBK Productions, LLC)

Comedian Andy Dick has filed a lawsuit against a man he alleges caused “serious” injuries by punching him outside a New Orleans nightclub last year.

Documents in the lawsuit were made public on Thursday, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

​Dick, 54, alleges David Hale, 47, caused “serious, permanent and disabling injuries” during the incident outside the venue in the French Quarter.

He seeks compensation for medical expenses and lost wages, among other damages.

“The entire suit is ridiculous,” Hale’s attorney, Michael Kennedy, told the Associated Press in an emailed statement on Friday. Kennedy, who has denied wrongdoing by Hale, said it was “appalling” that Dick would seek lost wages during a pandemic.

Hale has maintained that Dick provoked him into hitting him by allegedly grabbing Hale’s genitals and winking at him outside the club where Dick had performed. Dick has denied he touched Hale.

On 28 July, the New Orleans district attorney’s office said it was dropping prosecution of Hale because Dick had not been cooperative and had not kept in touch with prosecutors.

A district attorney spokesman, Ken Daley, said the case could be revived if Dick reestablishes contact with the district attorney’s office.

Dick later said he would be willing to come to New Orleans to testify against Hale.

The Associated Press contributed to this report