Michael Kovac, David Livingston/Getty ImagesChris Brown's bodyguard wants Drake to pay up.
Breezy's protector, Patrick "Big Pat" Strickland, is suing the "Best I Ever Had" hitmaker, the W.I.P. nightclub, its shareholders and employees over their role in a bar brawl that occurred between Drake and Brown at the New York City hot spot last June.
Per the complaint filed in New York Supreme Court and obtained by E! News, Strickland alleges that on the night of June 13, 2012, when he was working security for the "Run It" singer, employees at the club had a duty to control the Canadian artist and his posse.
The suit claims that it was "highly publicized" in the media that Drake and Brown both had been dating Rihanna and had a "heated, acrimonious, and ongoing rivalry" for her affections.
According to Strickland's attorney, the club and its staff should have known that allowing both entertainers and their respective entourages entry "would create a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a mass altercation would occur between the two camps, causing bodily injury to patrons of both establishments."
As it happened, court docs say the rivals sat in "close proximity to each other" and were "served excessive amounts of intoxicating beverages" even though their entourage members were visibly drunk.
The suit also held Drake liable for instigating the brouhaha when he supposedly had a server deliver a note to Chris saying "I am f--king the love of your life," saying that Drake should have realized such a missive could "inflame the volatile situation" that developed when both parties were seated near each other.
Consequently, a verbal spat erupted between Brown and Drake's camps which turned violent with bottle throwing, possible gunshots and a general state of riot and disorder.
Strickland claims he suffered "severe and disfiguring" injuries to his face, head and eyes due to the fight and is seeking unspecified damages.
Attorneys for Drake and Brown so far have yet to comment.