Astroworld Attendees Who Accept Refund Could Be Waiving Their Right To Sue
Following the tragedy of Astroworld, one of Travis Scott’s and Live Nation’s first responses to the horrific incident was to fully refund attendees’ ticket prices. But those who are getting the refund might want to read the fine print: it is very possible that if an attendee accepts the refund, they will waive their legal right to sue.
According to an interview with Insider, personal injury attorney Neama Rahmani confirmed that “accepting a refund may very well invoke a waiver from arbitration, detailing the circumstances under which this could be the case.”
“Courts generally uphold those types of waivers,” Rahmani explained. “The classic case is arbitration agreements. Everyone kind of scrolls through. No one reads the fine print, and guess what, you’ve waived your right to a jury trial, waived your right to file a lawsuit, to demand arbitration.”
Legal analyst, Carmen Roe, also explained Rahmani’s assertions per HotNewHipHop.
“When asked what concertgoers need to look for before accepting any kind of refund, Roe added. “What they need to look for specifically, is the word ‘Waiver,’ ‘Consent’ ‘Agreement’ of any kind. And most importantly, they need to be concerned if they’re asked to sign anything.”
She continued: “Refunds should not come with a signature. So, in this particular case, Live Nation has suggested they’re going to refund these people, and that this is all going to be on the up and up. That shouldn’t require their signature under any circumstances.”
Dmitriy Shakhnevich, an adjunct assistant professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice told Insider that, “If after an event that is traumatizing and that is difficult to overcome, you give somebody a refund for a ticket and sneak in some language in there, at the very least, that can be challenged in court in good faith,” Shakhnevich said.
“By agreeing to individual arbitration, you and we each waive any right to participate in a class-action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration,” the waiver says on Live Nation’s website.
Shakhnevich and Rahmani agreed that Live Nation’s terms of use for its ticket provider could be challenged in court.
As of now, Travis Scott, Drake, and Live Nation have been named in several lawsuits regarding the tragedy at Astroworld. Scott has offered to pay for the funerals of the deceased and offer therapy services to those affected.
