Actress Rosario Dawson is facing a lawsuit filed by a former employee claiming that she and her family abused and discriminated against him for being transgender.
Dedrek Finlay, Dawson and her family’s ex-employee is a transgender man who went by the name Deidre before coming out as trans. Dedrek stated in his lawsuit that Isabel, Dawson’s mother alongside with her husband Gregory and brother Gustavo regularly acknowledged him with female pronouns and used his old name. He claims that he has gone up to Dawson regarding this issue numerous times but the actress never did anything about it. Dedrek also claims that Rosario herself has partaken in transphobic slurs whenever he would complain about his situation, telling him “You’re a grown woman.”
Dawson’s ex-employee stated in the lawsuit that he had been living separately within Dawson’s North Hollywood property but was ultimately told to leave in April of 2018. Around that time, he claims that Dawson’s mother Isabel knocked on his door and acted hostile towards him after he refused to discuss their dispute with her. Dedrek claimed that she tore off the screen of one of his windows and pulled him out through it. According to him, she threatened that she would kill his cat while insulting him with “You’re not so much of a man now.”
He added that Rosario told her mother to stop being petty, seemingly taking Dedrek’s side on the issue. But instead of coming to his defense, the actress’s former employee claims that Rosario actually pinned him down so that her mother could continue assaulting him. He said that one of the two women took his phone away from him so that he wouldn’t be able to dial 911 and because they knew that it contained video evidence of Isabel threatening him earlier that year.
Dedrek’s lawsuit also stated that he managed to get inside Dawson’s home and was finally able call 911. He stated that he was taken to the hospital and was treated for his injuries after the police came. He got a restraining order against Dawson’s mother the following day.
The Zombieland star’s former employee also claims that he was ultimately forced to leave his home around September of 2018 because his living conditions turned from bad to worse after his gas was cut off.
He is now suing Dawson and her family for battery, assault, discrimination, trespassing, and civil rights & labor violations.
Dawson and her representatives has yet to address the issue.