KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A federal judge in Kansas City, Missouri, has dismissed a class-action lawsuit that accused a downtown entertainment district of racial discrimination.
Senior Judge Ortrie Smith on Monday threw out the second count of the two-count lawsuit filed on behalf of Dante A.R. Combs, of Overland Park, Kansas, and Adam S. Williams of Edmond, Oklahoma, against Cordish Co., owner of the Kansas City Power & Light District. The other count was dismissed last year.
Combs and Williams claimed they were victims of discrimination while visiting the Power & Light District in 2010 and 2011. In his order filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Smith said he found no evidence to support their claims against Cordish Co. and its affiliates.
The central allegation by both men was that Cordish and its affiliates employed so-called "rabbits": white men hired to start arguments with black men so security would have reason to intervene and order the black men to leave. Cordish has previously denied any involvement in the alleged practice.
Smith said the men's attorney, Linda Dickens, failed to prove that a "rabbit" was involved in altercations involving Combs or Williams. Dickens did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
Dickens did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.