anti flag
17:59 Friday, 3 January 2025
Anti-Flag broke up in 2023 as sexual assault allegations from twelve separate women surfaced against frontman Justin Sane (real name Justin Geever) surfaced. A lawsuit was then filed against Anti-Flag's business Hardwork Distribution Inc. by Geever accuser Kristina Sarhadi, accusing the band of negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress; and against Geever himself over accusations of assault, battery/sexual battery, and intentional infliction.
Hardwork Distribution Inc. is owned by Anti-Flag members Pat Thetic (Patrick Bollinger), Chris Head, and Chris No. 2 (Chris Barker).
A December 18 ruling by New York Judge Brenda K. Sannes has now thrown out Sarhadi's lawsuit against Hardwork Distribution Inc., citing a lack of provable ties between Geever's actions and the company itself. "Because the first amended complaint has even fewer allegations regarding Hardwork, Hardwork's motion to dismiss is granted," reads a portion of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit against Geever by Sarhadi remains. A full copy of the ruling can be found here. Geever has not responded to the lawsuit and may have left the country in early 2024.
Sarhadi's lawsuit was filed under New York's Adult Survivors Act, which was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2022 and creates a one-year window for survivors of sexual assault that occurred when they were over 18 years old to sue their abusers regardless of when the abuse occurred.
Sarhadi originally came forward with allegations against Geever in July 2023 in an episode of the Enough podcast. Sarhadi claimed Geever sexually assaulted her in October 2010 when she was 22 years old, saying in part: "It was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced. I can't stress how violent he was and how much I fully believed I was going to die, that he was going to kill me."
