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Law360 (April 6, 2021, 11:15 AM EDT) -- The company behind the Ultra Music Festival in Miami is facing a proposed class suit alleging ticketholders were denied refunds for the canceled 2020 event and instead were offered transfers for 2021 or 2022 and free "upgrades" that come with onerous releases of legal rights.
Gabriella Petroka, who filed her lawsuit in Miami on March 31, says Event Entertainment Group Inc., which puts on the Ultra Music Festival each March, put off refunding ticketholders for the 2020 event by telling them that it was merely postponed until 2021 instead of canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Petroka said a different iteration of the annual event was already expected to take place in 2021, and Ultra has since confirmed to the City of Miami that the event will not happen this year.
"Hiding behind an illusory set of terms and conditions which purportedly grant Ultra unilateral authority to cancel the event for any reason, with or without cause, as well as false or misleading assertions that the event was merely postponed, Ultra refused to refund plaintiff and other ticketholders the hundreds or thousands of dollars they each paid to attend the event," Petroka said in the suit.
Petroka added that in a lawsuit filed by Ultra against one of its vendors, the company has taken the position that the event was canceled, not postponed, and demanded a refund of money it paid for staging equipment and other services.
Ticketholders for the 2020 event have been emailed options to "upgrade" their tickets for free with some additional benefits for the 2022 event, but Petroka says that those who opt to do this are required to check a box agreeing to certain terms and conditions.
Among these terms and conditions are a waiver of any recovery of attorney fees or costs if a ticketholder were to prevail in litigation against Ultra, an agreement to not attempt any credit card chargeback for any reason, a waiver of the legal defense that the 2021 terms are unconscionable or unenforceable, and an arbitration provision that requires ticketholders to bear half of the costs of any arbitration, according to the suit.
"This is an abuse of fairness, and of accepted and proper trade practice," Petroka's attorney Marcus Corwin said in a statement. "No one argues that the festival should have gone forward, but when it didn't, the promoters should have refunded the money."
Petroka, who paid a total of $1,032 for two tickets to the 2020 Ultra event, is seeking to represent a class of Florida residents who bought tickets to the canceled festival. She is claiming breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, deceptive and unfair trade practices and unjust enrichment, among other claims.
The suit also names the City of Miami as a defendant and asks the court to stop it from leasing city property to Ultra for the event as long as the company continues to engage in the allegedly unlawful activity.
City attorney Victoria Mendez said her team is reviewing the lawsuit and that they "look forward to a quick resolution in court."
A representative for Ultra could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Petroka is represented by Marcus W. Corwin of Corwin Law.
Counsel information for the defendants was unavailable.
The case is Petroka et al. v. Event Entertainment Group Inc. et al., case number 2021-007865-CA, in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.
--Editing by Alyssa Miller.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
