A disabled Rolling Stones fan has filed a complaint against Concerts West/AEG to the state Division of Human Rights, claiming that handicapped seats at the band’s show are five times more expensive than regular seats.
The 60-year-old fan and retired administrative law judge, Michael Boyajian, uses a walker after injuring his right leg in a fall back in 2011. While the Fishkill, New York resident would like to see The Rolling Stones live in concert and cross-off the experience from his bucket list, he had trouble getting tickets to the Stones’ show at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. When trying to purchase tickets, he noticed that the show in June priced handicapped seats at an alarming $1,075 each, compared to regular $200 seats.
“It blew my mind,” Boyajian told New York Daily News. “The baby boomers are their biggest rock ‘n’ roll fans, and we’re aging out now.”
When searching for seats at the Stones’ show in New Jersey, Boyajian found that wheelchair-accessible seats were either immediately sold-out or simply did not exist. While he found accessible seating for people with hearing or sight impairments, these were also expensive and did not pertain to his needs. He claimed that the band is discriminating against disabled people and the scarcity of tickets is a “breach of [his] human rights.”
Boyajian requested in his filing that the band provides more accessible seats to all their future shows and requested accessible tickets for himself and his wife to see the band in New Jersey. AEG and the Stones have not commented on the complaint. While Ticketmaster administers the tickets, the site noted that venues are the parties responsible for seating polices and pricing.
As of today, handicapped seats at the Stones’ show on June 17 in East Rutherford are not available, while handicapped seats for the June 13 show are priced at $1,095 on Ticketmaster.