Live Nation is facing a lawsuit from a stagehand who says he was injured during the construction of a stage for The Weeknd’s ‘After Hours Til Dawn’ tour.
The report of the lawsuit comes from Pitchfork, who says the lawsuit was filed in Dallas County District Court in Texas. Steve Genovese says he was working for a contractor contracted by Live Nation to build the stage for the AT&T Stadium concert that weekend.
“While marking the floor for the stage dimensions, [Genovese] was run over by a forklift which was being operated by another worker on site,” the legal filing reads. “As a result, [he] suffered severe, excruciatingly painful, and permanently disabling injuries to his leg. The flash and muscle were torn away from his leg and were detached from the bones.”
The lawsuit names Live Nation, concert promoter C3 Presents, David Weise & Associates, and Cowboys Stadium, which operates the stadium complex for AT&T Stadium. The Weeknd himself was not named as a defendant.
The lawsuit claims five counts of civil liability for defendants, including negligence, negligent hiring, and gross negligence. The lawsuit says each entity involved in the production of the stage “placed more value on their own financial gain than on the safety of the workers who helped put on The Weeknd concert.”
The complaint alleges that the forklift driver hired by Live Nation was not adequately licensed. It also alleges the driver was operating the forklift under Live Nation’s supervision “without the necessary number of stagehands, staff, forklifts, forklift operators, or EMS personnel being present.”
Genovese alleges that because emergency medical services weren’t on the premises when the accident occurred, his treatment was severely delayed. “[Genovese] spent more than a month in the hospital where he underwent numerous surgeries to save his leg, which is now horrifically and permanently disfigured and impaired.”
He seeks damages related to his paint and suffering, anguish, distress, and loss of earnings while he recovered from the grievous injury.
