The settlement apparently provides 7,000 free tickets to family members and companions also ejected from the park, in addition to the monetary component. This settlement comes after the case went to the California Court of Appeals, which wrote the following summary of events in its opinion:

On September 26, 1998, named plaintiff Danny Everett, an African-American man, visited Magic Mountain amusement park with his wife Tiarzha Taylor, his sister-in-law Khara Taylor, her daughter Anya Taylor, and her daughter's two friends. After spending a full day at the park, the group decided to make the Colossus roller coaster their last ride. Everett and his sister-in-law went ahead of his wife and the three girls, all under 12 years old, to stand in line at Colossus.

Everett and his sister-in-law were halfway through the line in the Colossus queue house when Tiarzha and the girls arrived. Everett motioned to them and stepped approximately 10 feet out of line to help them join the group. Shortly thereafter, a Magic Mountain employee approached Everett and told him that he was not allowed to cut in line. He said that he did not cut. The guests standing in front of and behind Everett told the employee that he had been in line. Then two other employees approached Everett's wife and took her out of line for questioning. Everett continued to move forward in the queue until he boarded the roller coaster.

Everett was then told to get out of the roller coaster. He did so, and he and his wife were escorted away from the queue house while the rest of the group went on the roller coaster. Everett asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor told him that he would have to leave the park for the day because he violated the park's line-cutting policy. Magic Mountain's line cutting-policy provides that " 'Line cutting for the purposes of joining other members of a group or family is generally prohibited, but can be allowed in the following circumstances: (A) the persons(s) trying to enter the line are small children under the age of 12 years and are joining their adult supervision; (B) When one person has left a ticketed line to use the restroom… (E) When the Line Patrol Officer determined that the circumstances for the line cutting are justified and that removing the guests from line would present an unfair hardship to the guests involved.' "

Ten to fifteen seconds after Everett was asked to leave, the girls and Khara exited Colossus. The supervisor then put his open hand on the small of Everett's back and told him to keep moving. Everett asked him to remove his hand and stepped away. Everett then saw a man in a straw hat who could vouch for his presence in line. He attempted to yell to the man, but a supervisor told the security guards to "Get him out of here." A security guard firmly grabbed Everett's arm, and he reacted by pulling it forward to the front of his body to get free. As a result, at least four other security guards jumped on Everett, threw him to the ground, and punched and kicked him. The guards placed Everett under citizen's arrest and chained him to a bench for about two hours while other employees taunted him and directed derogatory statements toward him.

The district attorney filed a criminal complaint against Everett for battering a guard, for trespassing and refusing to leave private property, and for obstructing or intimidating business operators or customers. A jury acquitted Everett on the battery charge. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the obstruction or intimidating business operators or customers charge, which ultimately were dismissed.

The settlement will not be effective until the court grants it final approval. The court has apparently not yet scheduled a hearing on the matter.