Star Tribune
Family sues bar and Minnesota Wild after Bloomington man killed in fight over social distancing
The widow of a man killed during a fight over COVID-19 precautions is suing the corporate entities that own the Minnesota Wild and the St. Paul bar where he died, accusing them of negligence and illegally continuing to serve the drunk perpetrator alcohol.
The suit was filed in April by Julie Ryan, widow of the late Bloomington hockey coach Mike Ryan. It names seven entities and Ryan Whisler, the St. Paul man who punched Ryan outside Herbie’s on the Park in April 2021, as defendants.
Whisler was sentenced Monday in a separate criminal case to seven years’ probation after he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. The sentence factored in the request of Julie Ryan, who asked the judge to not give Whisler, 46, any prison time.
Ryan, 48, was in the restroom of the bar Herbie’s on the Park, when he noticed Whisler filming himself as he punched a hole in the cellophane covering a urinal before using it, the suit states. The urinal was supposed to be closed in order to meet social distancing requirements during the pandemic.
Ryan notified a bartender about Whisler’s actions and told her to keep an eye on Whisler, the complaint reads.
The two men got into a verbal argument, it turned into a fight, and Whisler grabbed Ryan’s facemask before punching Ryan down the stairs as they exited the bar at closing time, the suit says. It caused a fatal brain injury when Ryan hit his head on concrete.
One of the suit’s four claims is that the defendants were negligent are responsible for Ryan’s death by not having employees and security prevent the fighting.
Workers “should have known the risk” Whisler presented to patrons, and “failed to provide safe premises” by having security intervene before Ryan was punched, the suit says. Bar workers directed Whisler and Ryan outside at 11 p.m. and locked the doors behind them without making an effort to separate the two, the suit alleges.
It also accuses the security workers of negligence for not taking action before the injury.
It alleges that security for the Wild and other defendants had observed the arguing between Whisler and Ryan and did not take action to prevent the injury.
Saint Paul Arena Company, another defendant, operates the Xcel Energy Center and provides security to surrounding businesses including Herbie’s, the suit says. The company had its own security called to the bar because of the verbal arguing, it adds.
Ryan’s family declined to comment on the suit and Whisler’s separate criminal case, as did the attorney handling the lawsuit.
The suit alleges bar employees broke the law by continuing to serve Whisler alcohol despite knowing he was drunk prior to hitting Ryan. In what’s known as a “liquor liability” claim, those who become drunk and injure another person can be sued.
The Xcel Center concession employees should have also recognized Whisler’s level of intoxication while attending the game, and were negligent for continuing to serve him, the suit alleges.
The final claim is that Whisler was negligent in hitting Ryan, who had two children with his wife.
Two of the defendants — Minnesota Wild Hockey Club and Minnesota Hockey Ventures Group — own the Wild hockey team.
Attorneys representing the lawsuit defendants did not return calls and emails seeking comment. A call to Herbie’s main number seeking comment was not returned Friday.
Others sued include Park Holdings LLC, which owns and operates Herbie’s on the Park, and is an affiliate of the Minnesota Wild according to the complaint.
The bar sits just east of the lobbies that lead into the Xcel Energy Center Center.
The suit is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 for each of the claims, and damages.
Whisler was initially charged with second-degree unintentional murder in the criminal case but it was dismissed when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in May.
Dennis Gerhardstein, a spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, said in a statement that prosecutors believe Whisler deserved prison time.
“It’s been a huge shift,” he said.
Deqa Muhidin, a former schoolteacher, children’s book author and Somali language heritage program coordinator at the Minneapolis Public Schools Multilingual Department, said the Sing-Again project would be a great addition to what was already in place.
The district’s Somali Heritage Language Program was launched in 2021 and has grown to 270 students in kindergarten through fourth grade.
The program is more than a language-learning program, she said, also teaching Somali culture.
The Somali language has its own cultural insights, which are only spoken by elders, and once they are no longer here, those insights will be lost, Muhidin said. For example, elders might use the phrase, “Look at something in your foot,” meaning run. Or a merchant may tell a customer, “I’m going to close my eyes,” meaning this is my final offer, she said.
An area shuttle service hopes to help ease Freeborn County’s health care woes by offering free rides to local hospitals.
SMART Transit, which operates in Austin, Albert Lea and Owatonna, is expanding its medical ride service for Freeborn County residents next year thanks to a $10,000 grant. The shuttle company will offer free rides to Mayo Clinic hospitals in Albert Lea and Austin for residents age 55 and up, addressing a problem for residents who’ve seen medical services in the region shrink over the years.
“We’re quite ecstatic,” said Chris Thompson, operations manager at SMART Transit. “I can’t even explain how wonderful news it is.”
Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea announced service cuts in 2017, urging people to travel to Austin, about 20 minutes east, for most inpatient hospital visits. Area residents organized to get Iowa-based MercyOne to open a primary care clinic in 2022, but pandemic-related complications and financial troubles led to the clinic closing at the beginning of 2024.
A group of Albert Lea residents approached SMART Transit officials earlier this year, asking for more medical shuttle service and expanded rides to hospitals. SMART has had a free ride program for seniors in Mower County for years thanks to Mayo Clinic grants, but there wasn’t funding to duplicate the program.
Mayo officials worked with SMART staff to secure grant money through the Naeve Health Care Foundation, a local group named after the former hospital that served Albert Lea residents since 1911. The foundation grants money for local health care issues including Mayo program funding; it has donated more than $4 million for community health care.
Freeborn County isn’t alone in struggling to access health care. For decades, hospitals in greater Minnesota have largely joined up with bigger systems or closed as the state’s population shifted to metropolitan areas. Some smaller hospitals have tried banding together to save money, while others find niches in the area to offer better services.
Yet a growing population of seniors means an ever-increasing need to get them to doctor’s appointments, and rural communities are struggling to meet transportation demands. Minnesota’s senior population (age 65 and older) grew from about 680,000 residents in 2010 to almost 950,000 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Not all of them have their own transportation.
As a photojournalism professor, R. Smith Schuneman mixed high expectations with a warm manner to launch the careers of a wide spectrum of photographers.
His students at the University of Minnesota, many of whom regarded Schuneman as a pivotal influence in their lives, went on to shoot for National Geographic, Look, Life and numerous other magazines and newspapers, as well as for corporate clients, photography studios and a wide array of film and video productions.
Then Schuneman, who went by his nickname “Smitty” and never by his given name of Raymond, embarked on a second career with the creation of Media Loft , an events and communications agency. He eventually sold the company to his employees before retiring with his wife, Pat, to a lakeside home in Okoboji, Iowa.
“Smitty could be utterly ruthless, uncompromising or unyielding in his goal of making photojournalists out of us,” wrote Richard Olsenius, a former student of Schuneman’s, in a memorial book prepared by friends. “But it was underlied with a deep-rooted concern for what is right and moral. He demanded honesty from our work.”
He died Nov. 24 at age 88 of heart problems.
Schuneman was born in 1936 in Spirit Lake, Iowa. His parents Raymond “Art” and Olive “Bunch” Schuneman ran the local newspaper in Milford, Iowa, and it was there that Schuneman began publishing photos while still in school.
He also ran a side business covering weddings, events and “whatever pictures were needed around the small town,” his wife said.
She remembers seeing Schuneman for the first time when her band director arranged for her to take drum lessons from him. She was 15 and he was 16. She later worked for him at his photo service, processing the film.
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