Rocky the Denver Nuggets mountain lion mascot is clawing back — this time in court — accusing his own team of benching him over a disability.
Thirty-year-old Drake Solomon and his attorneys, from Denver civil rights law firm Rathod Mohamedbhai, filed a lawsuit against Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) and two team supervisors Tuesday regarding his termination from the highly touted “Rocky” mascot position in 2024 after a hip-replacement surgery, claiming that the team fired him due to a disability.
If found true, the team’s termination would have violated Solomon’s rights under both the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and Colorado’s Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights (POWR) Act’s various prohibitions against disability discrimination and retaliation, according to the lawsuit.
FILE PHOTO: Then-Nuggets Head Coach Michael Malone celebrates with Rocky the Mascot at the Nuggets celebration at the Denver City and County Building on Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
Solomon is the son of longtime Rocky-mantle-holder Kenn Solomon, who was the first iteration of the mascot after suiting up in 1990.
Solomon followed his father’s footsteps in 2012, joining the team as a trampoline dunk artist and member of the “Promo Squad.”
When his father finally put down the mask and retired in 2021, Solomon was the top candidate to follow his father’s history, becoming Rocky for the next season.
As a boy, Solomon grew up on the court with his father, not thinking about the rarity that went in to the position, he told The Denver Gazette. When he finally decided to step into the role, he fell in love with both entertaining the crowd and bringing smiles to people outside of the stadium on hospital visits and charity events.
His brother is the mascot for the Detroit Pistons NBA team.
“It’s in our blood,” Solomon said.
During the Nuggets’ 2022-2023 championship run, Solomon began experiencing pain in his right hip after having COVID. He was eventually diagnosed with avascular necrosis, meaning his bones weren’t getting enough blood flow, causing the bone tissue to die, according to the lawsuit.
“There was times I was throwing my half-court shot with tears on my face. Excruciating pain,” he said. But he pushed through it.
“I never took a vacation. I never wanted anyone else to step into that costume,” he added.
Solomon had surgery to treat the condition in March 2023, opting for a lesser surgery than a hip replacement due to his young age. He returned after the championship season ended, but he was eventually consulted for ongoing hip pain in February 2024, ultimately resulting in the need for a double hip replacement.
After telling the team he would need the surgery, supervisors Steve Johnston and Craig Dzaman allegedly told him they would begin holding tryouts to replace him at the position, regardless of the outcome of his surgery.
That is where CADA was initially violated, according to Solomon’s attorney, Siddhartha Rathod.
Rathod likened the situation to firing someone while they are on maternity leave.
“Somebody is pregnant and they go out on maternity leave. They come back and I say, ‘awesome, you’re going to have to try out for your job.’ That’s not how it works… The company has to hold your job. This isn’t complicated. This is a clear violation of the law.”
Despite Solomon returning from the injury significantly quicker than the doctors expected, the team told him they would still be holding replacement tryouts because he had “burned them last time,” according to the lawsuit.
Despite the job uncertainty, Solomon continued to do summer activities for the team. Neither Dzaman or Johnston attended any of the summer performances, and no one from KSE ever asked Solomon to demonstrate his abilities to perform his job duties at all during the summer, according to the lawsuit. He was never screened by the medical staff.
“I’m still full-time. I’m still in costume and my job is on Indeed,” he said. “It was really strange.”
According to Solomon, he was asked to help teach applicants how to dunk when they were trying out for his position. The job was up for grabs despite Solomon’s hip being completely cleared and not hindering his physical ability.
He was fired after the tryouts on Aug. 13, 2024.
The lawsuit alleges the decision to fire Solomon violates the employee protections due to his disability. His lawyers say KSE firing him while knowing of the disability violated CADA.
“In direct result of KSE’s actions, Mr. Solomon has suffered significant injuries, damages, and losses to be determined at trial,” the lawyers said.
Furthermore, the complaint alleges that KSE violated the POWR act, a 2023 law that specifies what employers can write into severance agreements, when they terminated Solomon. According to the attorneys, the agreement included a nondisclosure, non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions that violated state law.
Both Rathod and Solomon questioned just how many of the other nearly 1,000 employees at KSE received similar severance agreements.
Solomon said this isn’t just for him, but for former and future employees at the company.
“This was not an easy decision,” he said. “They’re like a second family to me. This is about right or wrong.”
Solomon and his attorneys are asking for $5,000 per POWR Act violation, attorney’s fees, a declaration that the severance agreement violated the POWR Act and other financial relief the court deems proper, according to the lawsuit.
The Denver Gazette reached out to KSE for a statement regarding the lawsuit, but did not hear back by the time of this report.
Solomon, now living in Texas after leaving the city due to the heartbreak, said he’d love to get back into sports entertainment.
To him, this isn’t personal, but necessary.
“We want the fans to know that we love them. We wish that a Solomon could be there,” he said. “But (KSE) needs to understand that they can’t keep doing this to people.”