Rick Ross asked a judge to throw out the lawsuit brought by a disabled man who claims he was forced to sit under the hot sun for hours at the rapper’s car show, In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Rick (real name: William Leonard Roberts II) denied all allegations of wrongdoing in the case brought by a man named Darris Straughter.
Darris sued Rick and his Rick Ross Car Show over the 2024 event in Florida. He claimed the event promised to be wheelchair accessible but that wasn’t the case when he got there. He sued demanding unspecified damages.
Now, Rick Ross and his company argued that Darris had “failed to allege sufficient facts to support” his claims. Rick argued there was no contract between the man and him or his company.
Further, Rick claimed Darris cannot show that any alleged deceptive statements made by him or his company caused him actual damages.
The rapper pointed out Darris admitted no person made any statements to him concerning the availability of accessible transportation to the car show until two months AFTER he had purchased the ticket, airfare and hotel room to attend the event.
In addition, Rick’s lawyer said, “The alleged one-time denial of an accessible service, when as [Darris] admits he was able to attend the car show without issue on a prior occasion, is insufficient to show that he will likely suffer irreparable harm absent injunctive relief.”
A judge has yet to rule on Rick’s motion to dismiss.
In his lawsuit, Darris sued Rick Ross and the Rick Ross Car Show Inc. in Florida court.
His lawyer wrote, “Rick Ross marketed his car show as a dream-like visit to his property ‘The Promise Land.’ In reality, it was a land of broken promises and a nightmarish exclusive for [Darris].”
Darris’ lawyer said Rick should have known that attendees of his car show would need reasonable accommodations. The lawsuit said the Rick Ross Car & Bike Show “said it would be wheelchair accessible — somebody lied.” “[Darris] made it his mission to attend the car show. He saved money year-round to pay for tickets, travel and lodging. When that was not enough, he sold his car. Mr. Slaughter overcame a slew of obstacles just to reach the car show — only to be denied entry because of his disability,” the suit read.
Darris said he was paralyzed in an act of random gun violence in 2018 — only days before he was set to walk down the aisle.
“He was shot eight times while sitting at a red light. He should not have survived. While spared his life, he lost all movement from the chest down,” the suit read. “[Darris] refuses to be a victim,” his lawyer wrote. “He viewed the car show as an opportunity — it was hit first solo trip in a wheelchair.”
“Despite assurances otherwise, the car show had no wheelchair accessible shuttles. in fact, the car show lacked wheelchair accommodations altogether (although Darris purchased a $500 VIP pass). As a result, [Darius] sat in his wheelchair under the hot summer sun for several hours while thousands of non-disabled individuals were whisked away to The Promise Land.”
Darris sued seeking unspecified damages and an injunction ordering Ross and his car show to cease discrimination against people using wheelchairs.
