Ex-Nuggets mascot sues team for wrongful termination after injury
A former Denver Nuggets mascot is suing the team’s owner, alleging a violation of Colorado disability protection laws after he was fired following a hip injury.
The lawsuit, obtained by USA TODAY Sports, was filed Tuesday in Denver District Court. It states that 31-year-old Drake Solomon, who donned the Rocky mascot mountain lion suit for three years, wants unspecified damages from the team’s owner, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment.
Solomon is suing on the basis of disability, retaliation and two claims of aiding and abetting unfair employment practices against his Kroenke Sports & Entertainment supervisors, who are also named defendants in the case.
Solomon was hired to portray Rocky in 2021. His father, Kenn, was the original Rocky, starting in 1990 and serving in the role for more than 30 years.
Solomon was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, the death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood supply, during the 2022-23 NBA season, underwent surgery to treat his condition and was later told he would need a total hip replacement.
According to the lawsuit, the team then informed Solomon it would hold tryouts for his position because of ‘his record of impairment and their lack of confidence in his health.’
Solomon says in the lawsuit that he returned from the hip replacement only to endure a “hostile work environment” and that the tryouts for Rocky were being held because Solomon had “burned them last time.’
Solomon, who began his career with the Nuggets in 2012 as a trampoline dunk artist and member of the “Promo Squad, was fired, his says without cause, in August 2024. The lawsuit states the team later told Solomon he was being terminated because he failed to score first during tryouts. His termination violates his rights under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, the lawsuit alleges.
A potential class-action lawsuit is also in play from the severance package Solomon was offered by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment when he was fired. Solomon says it is unlawful because the company presented other employees with the exact severance agreement.
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