FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — A disabled man says he was promised handicap-accessible transportation to rapper Rick Ross’ car show at the Promiseland back in June.
He said that promise was broken and now he has filed a lawsuit.
“It just broke my spirit man, cause I did everything I was supposed to do,” Darris Straughter, of Miami, told Channel 2′s Tom Jones.
He said his heart broke when there was no wheelchair-accessible bus to get him to the rapper’s popular annual Car and Bike Show in Fayette County.
“I looked forward to this for the whole year,” Straughter said.
He said he saved a year for it. Even sold his car to get here.
He said he even emailed the event indicating he needed a wheelchair-accessible bus to transport him from the designated parking lot the event assigned him to.
“I didn’t want to get stuck. I didn’t want to get stuck, you get what I’m saying? I still ended up getting stuck after I did everything I was supposed to do,” he said.
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Straughter said after the event promised to accommodate him, he waited five hours in the parking lot at World Changers church after traveling from Miami.
“Buses and vans coming in front of me. Is this one accessible? No. It ain’t accessible,” Straughter said
He went back to his hotel.
Straughter has now filed a lawsuit against Ross and the Car Show. He alleges loss of time and money, mental anguish and pain and suffering.
“We sued them to put a spotlight on this issue,” his attorney, John Hoover, explained.
The pair traveled to Atlanta from Miami to discuss the lawsuit.
Hoover said events and businesses have to be ADA-compliant. He said they are legally bound to make accommodations for those with disabilities. While the lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $50,000, Hoover said this isn’t about money.
“This isn’t about some money grab,” Hoover told Jones.
Ross’ attorney Leron Rogers said by phone, “We had all that covered” when Jones asked him about Straughter’s claims.
He said someone would send a full statement but Jones never received it. He called again asking for it, but still hasn’t gotten a response.
Straughter doesn’t want this to happen to any other disabled person.
“We want to live, too. We want to feel normal. It’s crazy going through this life,” he said.
Hoover said someone connected to Ross was served with the lawsuit in Florida on Tuesday.
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