Posted on 03/27/2025 7:33:07 PM PDT by simpson96
CHICAGO — Two white men are accusing the city of Chicago and Bally’s Corp. of discriminating against them, saying they too should be able to participate in Bally’s recent offer of a 25 percent ownership stake in its Chicago casino geared toward women and people of color.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, alleges the city violated the rights of Richard Fisher and Phillip Aronoff, two white men from Texas, who are unable to invest in Bally’s minority ownership stake because of their race. The American Alliance for Equal Rights, a conservative legal group dedicated to challenging diversity and equity initiatives, joined the men in filing suit.
“This race-based stock offering is illegal, and this court should declare it as such,” the 29-page complaint reads.
Bally’s won Chicago’s casino bid in 2022 after then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot selected the company over several competitors. Bally’s proposal included the highest projected annual payout for the city: nearly $200 million, along with a $40 million upfront payment and $4 million in annual payments.
As part of that deal, Bally’s is required to offer women and people of color a collective 25 percent equity stake in the $1.7 billion casino currently under construction in River West.
Last month, Bally’s announced details of the investment offer. The minority investment stake lets individuals invest anywhere from $250 to $25,000 per share in Bally’s Chicago casino.
The investment offer was created as an accessible opportunity for underrepresented groups to build “generational wealth,” Chicago officials previously said. However, Loop Capital, the offer’s underwriter, stated publicly that it would not verify the sex or race of applicants.
Daniel Lennington, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an email that Bally’s was verifying race and sex because prompts for the offer ask prospective investors if they meet the definition of a minority.
“So they are, in fact, verifying race and sex because people who click ‘no’ are not qualified,” wrote Lennington, who works for the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
The lawsuit seeks to remove the investment requirements, allowing Fisher and Aranoff to participate in the Class A investment offer — effectively making it accessible to all white men.
How can they possibly hope to "verify race?" Wouldn't the applicants say-so suffice? Will Bally's conduct the infamous "Brown Paper Bag Test?!"
Or maybe they'll use a chart? Yeah, that's the ticket!
That went really well, didn't it?
< spit! >
Regards,
YOU WIN POST OF THE DAY.......:) :)
Regards,
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