MIDTOWN — A patron of the popular Johnny Utah’s bar is suing the venue after they let her ride the mechanical bull while "visibly drunk" — leaving her with "life debilitating" injuries after she was tossed from the machine, a new lawsuit charges.
Jocelyn Burmeister was at Johnny Utah’s on March 18 when she was “violently thrown off the bull before having a chance to mount the device,” a suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday claims.
The bar, at 25 W. 51st St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues, is home to the city’s “one and only Mechanical Bull,” its website claims.
Burmeister, who was “visibly intoxicated” at the time of the incident, dealt with “life debilitating injuries and surgeries” after the incident, the suit says.
The bar should not have let her ride the bull in the first place and operated it in a “negligent and defective manner,” the suit notes.
The lawsuit also claims the bar failed to install safeguards and padding around the bull and was operating the device without a required license.
Patrons who ride the bar’s mechanical bull have to sign a waiver before doing so, Johnny Utah's website notes.
“Our ring is completely lined in padding and offers a safe landing area,” the website says. “However, it is a ‘ride at your own risk’ attraction.”
Burmeister is seeking unspecified damages.
Neither her attorney nor Johnny Utah's immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.