Jason Gann ordered to pay legal costs from assault case

Wilfred co-creator and star Jason Gann has been ordered to pay more than $750,000 to a former bus driver he assaulted at the Melbourne spring racing carnival in 2007.

Legal proceedings over the incident have been long and varied but appear to have reached the end of the road in the US this week.

Gann pleaded guilty to the case in which Joseph Hosny was assaulted after Gann attempted to board a shuttle bus whilst still intoxicated. He was ordered to pay $325,000, upheld by the Court of Appeal last year. No conviction was recorded so he could continue his US acting career.

But Gann refused to pay the damages on Hosny’s legal fees, who subsequently initiated legal proceedings in the US about two years ago.

This week, the Superior Court of California ordered Gann pay AU$755,638 – plus 10 per cent interest for every year the damages don’t get paid.

Gann starred in 4 seasons of Wilfred on the US FX network -longer than most Aussie adaptations survive- but in 2012 was reportedly facing bankruptcy. In 2013 he was developing a comedy My Problem With Women for ABC (US) but it is yet to eventuate.

Fairfax reports Mr. Hosny was also ordered to pay back almost $50,000 in workers’ compensation in 2014 after pleading guilty to WorkCover fraud.