Gay married couple sues Kings, alleges security chased them from seats, issued threats

A married same-sex couple and longtime Sacramento Kings season ticket holders have sued the organization alleging they were mistreated, threatened and humiliated by security officers who detained them during a Kings game in March.

Gabriel Gendron and Kelley Moran say Kings security never explained why they were escorted from their seats and sequestered, the couple said, but attorneys allege security officers repeatedly questioned whether the season tickets the pair held were actually theirs and allegedly threatened Gendron before they were ultimately released.

But Kings officials tell a different story, emphatically denying the allegations in a statement.

Attorneys for the Kings allege the couple’s unruly behavior including verbally abusing and grabbing a guest services worker’s arm over an ordered “veggie burger” — not a dispute over season tickets — led to the visit by arena security and the couple’s brief detention.

Kings attorneys allege in a June 2 answer filed in Sacramento Superior Court that the employee was a victim of assault, battery and harassment. The “unwanted physical touching,” attorneys allege, was accompanied by “vile and obscene language and angry, menacing and threatening gestures” directed at the employee.

The Kings face a slew of allegations in the 10-page court filing, first reported by online publication Outsports, including false imprisonment, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Gendron and Moran are seeking damages “in excess of $25,000,” along with special damages and court costs in the lawsuit.

“It is outrageous that three uniformed security guards forced plaintiffs out of their seats for seemingly no reason and paraded them around Golden 1 Center for thousands of fans to gawk at,” the couple’s attorney Ognian Gavrilov and co-counsel Alexandra Darling argued in the April complaint.

“A reasonable person would consider such conduct intolerable in a civilized community,” the lawyers continued, saying the couple was left with “feelings of humiliation, embarrassment, shame, fear, disgust and sadness.”

Kings officials call the claims “categorically false,” while listing the team’s long history of support for the Sacramento region’s LGBTQ+ community. Kings’ attorneys’ court response similarly rejects the couple’s claims as inaccurate and misleading.

“The accusations of wrongdoing are categorically false and will be addressed through the appropriate legal process. The Sacramento Kings organization has a long history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community, promoting diversity and creating a more inclusive environment for all,” the statement read.

Gabriel Gendron and Kelley Moran had settled into their seats at downtown Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center and were minutes into the Kings’ March 24 contest against the visiting Phoenix Suns when a trio of security officers approached and demanded they follow them, the claim alleges.

According to the lawsuit, Gendron and Moran were ushered away to a secluded area of the arena where they were held and questioned by a security supervisor who demanded to know who the season passes belonged to, unconvinced that they were the couple’s even after Gendron and Moran showed the officer their tickets. The couple have been season ticket holders for 10 years, attorneys said.

The back-office questioning escalated when Moran told the security supervisor that Gendron was his husband, according to the complaint.

“Suddenly, the Security Supervisor stepped closer to Mr. Gendron and threatened, ‘If I touch you the way I want to touch you, you won’t be happy,’” attorneys alleged. “By getting closer to Mr. Gendron and threatening to harm him, it reasonably appeared that (the security supervisor) was about to carry out on his threat.”

The couple and the security guards were met minutes later by staffers Gendron and Moran believed to be Kings Premium Service employees. Moran told the employees that the supervisor threatened his husband. The supervisor’s superior was called, sent the guards away and let Gendron and Moran go.

Gavrilov, the couple’s counsel, disputed the Kings’ version of events in a Monday interview, calling the security officers’ response outsized.

He argued in the couple’s filing that the Kings failed to properly train their security staff “to ensure that the services offered were safe and beneficial to patrons as opposed to harmful, biased, menacing and violating.”

Gavrilov said he expects camera footage from inside the arena and other evidence will prove his clients’ version of events at trial.

“Nothing happened, and even if it did, the response was disproportionate,” Gavrilov said of what he refers to as the “sandwich situation.” “These are adults — these aren’t kids — and you do a perp walk in front of 17,000 people? Surely, the action was disproportionate.”