Latest news with #ColoradoAnti-DiscriminationAct
Edmonton Journal
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Edmonton Journal
Denver Nuggets mascot Rocky the Mountain Lion files lawsuit against NBA team
The relationship between the Denver Nuggets and their mascot, Rocky the Mountain Lion, has gotten very rocky, indeed. Article content The man who played the character for several years, Drake Solomon, is suing the team's owners — Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) – and seeking unspecified damages for an alleged violation of disability protection laws. Article content The Colorado Sun reported on Wednesday that Solomon, 31, had been diagnosed with avascular necrosis, a bone tissue condition, during the 2022-23 season, eventually leading to multiple surgeries — including a hip replacement procedure during the following season. Article content Article content However, the lawsuit claims that when he did come back, it was a 'hostile work environment' and that the team decided to hold tryouts for a new Rocky because Solomon 'burned them last time.' Article content Article content He was fired shortly after the tryouts in August 2024, which he claims violated his rights under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. Article content Solomon actually took over the role of Rocky in 2021 from his father, who donned the costume for more than 30 years. The younger Solomon began his time with the team in 2012 as a 'trampoline dunk artist' before his eventual promotion, which was sealed at a private, closed-door tryout. Article content Article content 'It was not easy to go ahead with this because I love the Nuggets,' Solomon said. 'They've been my whole life and my family. For things to end the way they did, it was pretty heartbreaking.' Article content
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Nuggets mascot sues team for discrimination, wrongful termination after hip 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. .
New York Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Denver Nuggets being sued by their mascot in NBA stunner
Rocky the Mountain Lion roared back at the Denver Nuggets. The man behind the suit, Drake Solomon, is seeking unspecified damages from Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Nuggets, for an alleged violation of disability protection laws. The Colorado Sun reported this week that Solomon was diagnosed with a bone tissue condition, avascular necrosis, during the 2022-23 season, and was eventually forced to have multiple surgeries, including a hip replacement procedure during the following season. Advertisement 3 Nuggets mascot, Rocky the Mountain Lion, is suing the Nuggets after the job ran it's family for more than 30 years. Getty Images When Solomon told his supervisors about the impending hip replacement, he claims the team decided to hold tryouts for the mascot gig 'due to his record of impairment and their lack of confidence in his health.' Solomon said he recovered quickly from his hip replacement and returned to work during the 2023-24 season. Advertisement The lawsuit claims his return to work included a 'hostile work environment,' and the team decided to hold tryouts for the new Rocky because he 'burned them last time.' Solomon was fired in August 2024, shortly after tryouts for a new Rocky, which he says violated his rights under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. 3 Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke. Getty Images Solomon began his career with the team in 2012 as a 'trampoline dunk artist.' Advertisement His father was the original Rocky for over 30 years and retired in 2021 when Solomon took over the gig in a private, closed-door tryout. 3 Drake Solomon is suing the Nuggets for violating the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act after he was fired in August 2024. NBAE via Getty Images 'It was not easy to go ahead with this because I love the Nuggets,' Solomon said. 'They've been my whole life and my family. For things to end the way they did, it was pretty heartbreaking.' The Nuggets won the NBA Finals in 2023, which wound up being one of Solomon's last seasons as the team's mascot.
USA Today
10-06-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Can you be legally punished for misgendering someone? Colorado says yes.
Can you be legally punished for misgendering someone? Colorado says yes. | Opinion Colorado has threatened to sic the thought police on anyone who doesn't comply by using state-approved language about transgender people. Show Caption Hide Caption Jennifer Sey talks about starting the XX-XY Athletics company Jennifer Sey talks about starting the XX-XY Athletics company USA TODAY staff You'd think that after two significant losses at the U.S. Supreme Court, Colorado would tread more carefully with its anti-discrimination laws. No such luck. A new law, signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in May, expands the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act to make deadnaming and misgendering transgender individuals a punishable offense. California, not surprisingly, has tried something similar but on a more limited basis. The updated Colorado provisions have already attracted lawsuits on the grounds that the law violates the U.S. Constitution, including the First Amendment. Much like two other Colorado cases involving a cake baker and a web designer that reached the Supreme Court, this law pits free speech rights against public accommodation protections. At the heart of those cases, as well as this one, is the fact that the government – no matter how well-intentioned – cannot compel speech or chosen messages. Opinion: Democrats waste $20 million to learn why they lost men. Here's my free advice. And that's what Colorado's trans rights law would do, by claiming 'it is now a 'discriminatory practice' under Colorado law to refer to transgender-identifying individuals by their birth name (i.e., not their 'chosen name') or to use biological pronouns (i.e., not their preferred pronouns) in a place of public accommodation,' according to the first lawsuit, filed by a group of national and Colorado parental-rights organizations, including Defending Education. Forced gender ideology adherence? Here come the thought police. The law describes 'gender expression' as including someone's 'chosen name' and 'how an individual chooses to be addressed.' That is troublesome to the groups involved because a lot of the work they do centers on pushing back against gender ideology. Using biologically accurate terms is integral to their work. For instance, when discussing whether transgender students should participate in girls' sports, the debate is rooted in the biological differences between boys and girls. Now, the groups are at risk of violating the law when speaking in public spaces in Colorado. Opinion: Trump is right. Transgender athletes turn girls' track meets into a farce. 'H.B. 25-1312 was passed for the very purpose of suppressing traditional views on sex and gender and punishing those who refuse to address transgender-identifying individuals using so-called chosen names and preferred pronouns,' the lawsuit states. Those punishments could include investigations, lawsuits and fines, in addition to the possibility of 'participation in mandatory educational programs' if deemed necessary by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Thought police, anyone? 'I think it's the first time that we've seen a state actually try to cement in its own anti-discrimination canon a requirement to violate the First Amendment,' Sarah Parshall Perry, Defending Education's vice president and legal fellow, told me. She said the Supreme Court has made clear that in addition to the government forcing someone to communicate a message, forcing someone to silence themselves – essentially creating a heckler's veto – is a free speech violation. Businesses like XX-XY Athletics should be able to speak the truth The second federal lawsuit against Colorado's law was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of XX-XY Athletics, which was founded in Denver in 2024 by former Levi's executive Jennifer Sey. As the name implies, XX-XY Athletics is an athletic brand that unapologetically defends women's sports and spaces and has been outspoken about why biological men shouldn't be competing with women athletically. So using correct language is vital to the company's branding and advertising. 'Colorado continues to place itself on the wrong side of the law by forcing Coloradans to speak against their conscience,' said Hal Frampton, ADF senior counsel, in a statement. ADF is the law firm that secured wins for its Colorado clients – baker Jack Phillips and web designer Lorie Smith – in two cases that reached the Supreme Court. So it's well-positioned to intervene now. Opinion: Activists have made baker Jack Phillips' life miserable. Please leave him alone. Colorado wants to mandate 'kindness' for the LGBTQ+ community through its anti-discrimination laws. Yet, what state officials refuse to learn is that no law is above the Constitution. And in this case, requiring citizens to use language that's simply not true or accurate will never pass muster when squared with the First Amendment. Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@ or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Clarifying claims that Colorado mandated use of a person's chosen name and pronouns
According to a rumor that spread online in May 2025, Colorado lawmakers passed a law that prohibited referring to individuals by a gender and/or name they no longer identify with. The rumor appeared to originate from an outdated and exaggerated interpretation of the Kelly Loving Act, a real law passed in Colorado in May 2025. The Kelly Loving Act did not make it illegal to use names or genders that individuals no longer identify with. Rather, it clarified preexisting legislation that allowed plaintiffs to use those actions as evidence in civil discrimination cases. In practice, this means choosing not to use a person's chosen name or pronouns can be used as evidence of harassment in an anti-discrimination case involving employment, housing or places of public accommodation. It does not mean that the act of misgendering or deadnaming someone is in itself illegal. In late May 2025, a rumor spread online that Colorado lawmakers prohibited refusing to use a person's chosen name and pronouns in line with their gender identity. The claims spread on X and Facebook. Some of these claims specified that the law bans "misgendering" and "deadnaming" individuals — in other words, referring to someone by a gender and/or name they no longer identify with. However, these rumors appear to be spreading an outdated and exaggerated understanding of a legitimate law passed in Colorado on May 16, 2025, to clarify legal protections for transgender people. The bill, named the Kelly Loving Act after a transgender woman who was killed in an anti-LGBTQ+ mass shooting at a Colorado gay bar, underwent major revisions before it became law. An older version of the bill sought to specifically define misgendering and deadnaming as discriminatory acts under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination in the workplace, housing and in places of public accommodation such as parks, businesses and libraries. However, both terms were taken out of the legislation. Instead, the law as it stands — as of this writing — states that refusing to use a person's chosen name or respect how a person chooses to be addressed can be used as evidence in a complaint under the state's anti-discrimination act. Here's what that means. Before the Kelly Loving Act became law, the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act already prohibited discrimination on the basis of "gender identity" and "gender expression" due to a law passed in 2021. That bill defined gender expression as "an individual's way of reflecting and expressing the individual's gender to the outside world, typically demonstrated through appearance, dress, and behavior." It also defined gender identity as "an individual's innate sense of the individual's own gender, which may or may not correspond with the individual's sex assigned at birth." The Kelly Loving Act sought to "further clarify that not utilizing an individual's chosen name is and can be used as evidence of discrimination in a gender expression discrimination case," said state Democratic Rep. Rebekah Stewart, a sponsor of the bill. It also added more details to what "gender expression" means under the law, such as "how a person chooses to be addressed." Some claims said that Colorado made it a "crime" to misgender or deadname someone. That is simply not true, as penalties for violating the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act are civil, not criminal — any person who violates the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act can be fined $5,000 per plaintiff and/or other monetary damages, as of a 2025 amendment to the law. It is also worth noting that filing a complaint under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act does not automatically mean an employer or accused party may be fined. For example, with employment cases, there must be "clear and convincing evidence that the defendant engaged in a discriminatory or unfair employment practice with malice or reckless indifference to the rights of the plaintiff," according to a 2014 Colorado Bar Association publication (see Page 4-3 under "Remedies Under CADA"). However, "good-faith efforts to comply" and "prevent discriminatory and unfair practices in the workplace" would result in no punitive damages for the defendant, per the publication. Snopes requested a full copy of the most recent version of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act and will update this story if we find this language has changed. We also reached out to various law firms and civil rights groups for more information about how the Kelly Loving Act may be implemented in connection with CADA and await replies. Previous versions of the Kelly Loving Act specified inclusion of deadnaming and misgendering as acts of discrimination under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. For example, see the bill as introduced, which on Page 9 defined deadnaming as "purposefully, and with the intent to disregard the individual's gender identity or gender expression, refer[ring] to an individual by their birth name rather than their chosen name." Similarly, misgendering was defined on the same page as "purposefully, and with the intent to disregard the individual's gender identity or gender expression, refer[ring] to an individual using an honorific or pronoun that conflicts with the individual's gender identity or gender expression." The bill as introduced also said on Page 2 that it defined "deadnaming and misgendering as discriminatory acts in the 'Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act', and prohibit[ed] these discriminatory acts in places of public accommodation." In contrast, the bill as signed by the governor into law — available on the bill page — made no explicit mention of deadnaming or misgendering. Instead, it simply adds "chosen name" and other details to the definition of "gender expression," which, again, is already protected under the anti-discrimination act. See the relevant part of the bill, which is on Page 5, below, with the capitalized parts representing what the bill adds to the preexisting law: (3.5) "CHOSEN NAME" MEANS A NAME THAT AN INDIVIDUAL REQUESTS TO BE KNOWN AS IN CONNECTION TO THE INDIVIDUAL'S DISABILITY, RACE, CREED, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, GENDER EXPRESSION, MARITAL STATUS, FAMILIAL STATUS, NATIONAL ORIGIN, OR ANCESTRY, SO LONG AS THE NAME DOES NOT CONTAIN OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE AND THE INDIVIDUAL IS NOT REQUESTING THE NAME FOR FRIVOLOUS PURPOSES. (9) "Gender expression" means an individual's way of reflecting and expressing the individual's gender to the outside world, typically demonstrated through appearance, dress, and behavior, CHOSEN NAME, AND HOW THE INDIVIDUAL CHOOSES TO BE ADDRESSED. It is worth noting that repeated misgendering and deadnaming have already been used as evidence in successful anti-discrimination federal court cases. See, for example, a landmark 2015 case known as Lusardi v. Department of the Army, which found that the Army discriminated against a transgender woman, Tamara Lusardi, on the basis of sex in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One of the pieces of evidence used in the case was the repeated use of her birth name and male pronouns. Thus, the Colorado bill does not outright prohibit people from using a name or pronoun at odds with a person's gender expression — it simply strengthens preexisting anti-discrimination law in the state. In practice, this means that choosing not to use a person's chosen name or pronouns can be used as evidence of harassment in an anti-discrimination case involving employment, housing or places of public accommodation. It does not mean that the act of misgendering or deadnaming someone is in itself illegal. "2023 Colorado Revised Statutes :: Title 24 - GOVERNMENT - STATE (§§ 24-1-101 — 24-116-102) :: PRINCIPAL DEPARTMENTS (§§ 24-30-101 — 24-36-306) :: Article 34 - DEPARTMENT of REGULATORY AGENCIES (§§ 24-34-101 — 24-34-1008) :: Part 6 - DISCRIMINATION in PLACES of PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION (§§ 24-34-601 — 24-34-605) :: Section 24-34-601 - [Effective until 8/7/2024] Discrimination in Places of Public Accommodation - Definition." Justia Law, Accessed 3 June 2025. ENGROSSED a BILL for an ACT CONCERNING LEGAL PROTECTIONS for TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS. Accessed 3 June 2025. Gallagher, Sean, et al. The Practitioner's Guide to COLORADO EMPLOYMENT LAW SECOND EDITION VOLUMES 1 & 2 the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act a Chapter in the Practitioner's Guide to Colorado Employment Law. Accessed 3 June 2025. Garcia, Lorena, et al. A BILL for an ACT 101 CONCERNING LEGAL PROTECTIONS for TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS. Accessed 3 June 2025. ---. "HOUSE BILL 25-1312." 16 May 2025, Accessed 3 June 2025. "Gender Identity Expression Anti-Discrimination | Colorado General Assembly." Accessed 3 June 2025. "Home | Colorado Civil Rights Division." Accessed 3 June 2025. "Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals | Colorado General Assembly." Colorado General Assembly, Accessed 3 June 2025. Pham, Xoai. "Groundbreaking EEOC Ruling Finds the Army Discriminated against Transgender Employee by Denying Bathroom Access, Pronouns - Transgender Law Center." Transgender Law Center, 8 Apr. 2015, Accessed 3 June 2025. Powell, Laurel. "HRC Mourns Kelly Loving, 'Loving Friend & Caring Person,' Killed in Club Q Shooting." Human Rights Campaign, 29 Nov. 2022, Accessed 3 June 2025. Soper, Matt, et al. HOUSE BILL 24-1124. Accessed 3 June 2025. Zokaie, Yara, et al. HOUSE BILL 25-1239 . 22 May 2025, Accessed 3 June 2025.
