Owner of former Short North bar found civilly liable after man was beaten to death outside

On September 5, 2022, Gregory Coleman Jr. was beaten to death outside of a Short North bar and restaurant, called Julep, which is now closed due to lawsuits (that were different from this one).

Surveillance videos show security guard Dwayne Cummings sucker punching Coleman in the face, where he then fell to the ground. Cummings and another secrity guard, Chrystian Foster, continued to beat Coleman while he was unconscious, and Coleman died 12 days later.

The video of the incident was posted on Facebook by The Columbus Police, but please be warned there are disturbing images and graphic content.

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While Foster and Cummings were sentenced to 15 years of life in prison, Coleman’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the owners of Julep, for Cummings and Foster were working as security guards for the restaurant/bar during the time they beat Coleman to death.

Julep’s ownership group is led by Fadi Michael, who showed up in court on behalf of the restaurant group. Michael’s lawyer said the bar and its ownership weren’t responsible, because the incident occurred on the sidewalk.

However, attorney Rex Elliott, who was representing Coleman’s estate in this civil case, described that Julep did not conduct background checks for security and staff and did not properly train their security guards.

The jury awarded $27 million to the estate of Coleman, finding the bar’s ownership 80% responsible for Coleman’s death.

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