Judge Tosses Out Anti-Gay Suit Against Houston Rockets

A Brooklyn judge threw out an anti-gay discrimination lawsuit Monday made by a gay food server who claimed last year that he was harassed and ridiculed by players from the Houston Rockets, who allegedly hurled anti-gay slurs, in the visitor's locker room at the Barclay's Center in New York City, the New York Daily News reports.

Federal Judge Jack Weinstein ruled that since the Rockets did not employ server Rasean Tate, 28, he has no basis to sue the basketball team. Tate claimed some athletes retaliated against him after he complained to his employer, Levy Restaurant Holdings, about the harassment, adding that he was banned from working in the locker room and that his overtime was nixed.

Tate says in the lawsuit that while he was setting up a buffet on Feb. 22, 2013 before a Nets-Rockets game, a number of unidentified athletes from the Rockets yelled anti-gay slurs.

"Get that faggot out of here!" Tate alleges the athletes said. He adds that they accused him of "trying to catch a sneaky peeky," while laughing, the court papers say.

The judge said the suit can continue but against Levy Restaurant Holdings.

"We respect the judge's decision but it doesn't take away the culpability of what Houston Rockets players and staff did in the locker room that day," Tate's lawyer Marjorie Mesidor said, according to the New York Daily News. "The comments were discriminatory and they happened."

Tate was banned from working in dressing rooms, locker rooms and private VIP areas, where he'd have an opportunity to earn extra money because of overtime pay. Tate says he was prohibited from going to those areas because he is gay, according to the suit.

Tate is seeking unspecified monetary damages from the Houston Rockets and Levy Restaurant Holdings. Officials from the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center, where the incident took place, are not being sued.

The Rockets' officials argued in court papers the team was unaware of the incident before the suit was filed in April.