Ding, ding: Borat lawsuit - round two

By Stone Martindale Dec 14, 2006, 12:59 GMT

Actor Sacha Baron Cohen, acting as Kazakh TV reporter known as \'Borat\', poses for photographers in Sydney in this file photo from November 13, 2006. Two college fraternity buddies shown guzzling alcohol and making racist remarks in the \'Borat\' movie have lost their bid for a court order to cut the scene they claim has tarnished their reputations, court papers revealed on Monday. REUTERS/David Gray

A man who claims he was manhandled while using a bathroom at a restaurant last year by Sacha Baron Cohen while in his "Borat" character, is yet another to add to a growing list of litigants against Cohen.

Several lawsuits have been leveled against Cohen for his film ‘Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.’

The scene with the unidentified man allegedly does not appear in the movie, but snippets have made network Comedy Central and video-sharing websites, said the litigant's attorney Jonathan Milling to Reuters.

"He has been contacted by numerous people who have recognized him," Milling said.

The plaintiff, a South Carolina resident, says the comedian - also famous for the comic creation Ali G - posed as a bathroom attendant at Ristorante Divino in October 2005, invading his privacy and staring as he used a urinal, according to the lawsuit.

"He is embarrassed and humiliated and leaves the restaurant," Milling said of his client.

Allegedly the lawsuit does not mention the complainant's signed consent waiver.

The man is seeking punitive damages and is asking that the scene not be put on the upcoming DVD.

A judge in Los Angeles last week rejected a request for a lawsuit by two frat boys as baseless. The pair sued on November 9th, claiming they were tricked into making racist and sexist remarks to Cohen in the movie, reported Reuters.