Injured man files lawsuit against SLO firefighter

June 8, 2013

The man beaten unconscious by a San Luis Obispo firefighter filed a civil lawsuit on May 31. [Tribune]

In June 2011, John Ryan Mason, 34, allegedly beat Jory Brigham, 32, unconscious in a bathroom after an eight-month rift stemming from claims the firefighter was having an affair with a local policeman’s wife. Mason had no injuries while Brigham had 17 fractures in his face.

The lawsuit names John Mason, his wife Kendra Mason and Pappy McGregor’s Bar & Grill as defendants. Brigham is seeking unspecified compensatory damages to cover medical costs and wages lost, plus damages for pain and suffering.

Following the alleged assault, John Mason fled the scene and was arrested by San Luis Obispo police five days later.

In the lawsuit, Brigham’s attorney Greg Coates says that Kendra Mason knew her husband planned to hurt Brigham before the bathroom altercation.

During a criminal trial that ended in a hung jury, Kendra Mason testified she felt some guilt about her husband’s legal issues because prior to the altercation, John Mason had called a taxi to take them home, and she had refused to get into the cab because she thought the driver was rude.

However, in previous interviews the cab driver said John Mason was combative and he refused to give him a ride home.

Kendra Mason also testified that her husband told her Brigham was the aggressor, before escorting her from the bar following the altercation.

John Mason has a history of physical assaults including an incident in 1997 when he allegedly bashed another man over the head with a full bottle of champagne during a wedding in Los Osos.