Chicago casino settles lawsuit after being accused of barring White men from investing in the business

A Chicago casino settled a suit past week aft 2 would-be investors claimed the concern had a argumentation of preventing White men from investing successful the enterprise.

Bally's Chicago, which is projected to beryllium Illinois’ biggest casino with a 500-room edifice operation and 3,000-seat theater, was accused of excluding White males from its $250 cardinal IPO arsenic portion of its Host Community Agreement with the City of Chicago. 

The $1.7 cardinal casino and resort, acceptable to unfastened successful 2026, faced a lawsuit launched by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty connected behalf of 2 White antheral investors and the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER).

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Bally's Casino has settled a suit accusing it of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1866. (Bally's Casino, Inc. )

The casino committed to 25% number and women ownership arsenic part of the assemblage agreement, which was drafted arsenic portion of a 2019 Illinois authorities instrumentality expanding gambling successful the state. In bid to instrumentality portion successful the IPO, an capitalist would person had to conscionable its "Class A Qualification Criteria," which stated that an capitalist indispensable beryllium a "minority oregon woman."

Bally’s accepted deposits from 1,500 investors starting successful December, but coiled up refunding them successful February due to the fact that the SEC had yet to o.k. of the IPO, the Chicago Sun Times reported. In April, the casino dropped the arguable provisions from the IPO, but stated they preferred investors to beryllium from the Chicago area. 

Bally's casino asked imaginable investors if they met the Class A Qualification Criteria per the assemblage statement with the metropolis of Chicago. 

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WILL, which represented investors Richard Fisher and Phillip Aronoff successful their case, alleged that Bally’s was successful usurpation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which bars radical favoritism successful contracts, the archetypal Ku Klux Klan Act and years of Supreme Court precedent. The blimpish ineligible radical is present celebrating the colony with the casino.

"This is simply a large triumph for equality. Bally's Casino successful Chicago, the metropolis of Chicago, the authorities of Illinois had each agreed that they were going to unfastened a caller casino successful Chicago and lone let minorities and women to ain 25% of the casino arsenic portion of an investment. And Bally has present dropped that requirement. They filed papers with the SEC stating that the concern volition present beryllium unfastened to everybody. And we deliberation that's a large triumph for equality and we're precise blessed with this result," WILL's managing vice president Dan Lennington told Fox News Digital.

Bally's casino had restricted concern successful its IPO arsenic portion of an statement with Chicago that mandated 25% number and women ownership. 

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Patrick Callahan, 39, a Chicago lawyer who had been prevented from investing successful the casino, was pleased with the settlement, but voiced a enactment of caution astir the aboriginal of his city.

"Under existent authorities and section leadership, it’s hard to beryllium excessively optimistic that Chicago volition abruptly go a bastion of nondiscrimination. That being said, this is simply a large triumph and I’m hoping to spot galore much of them," Callahan said. 

Fox News Digital reached retired to Bally's, the Chicago mayor's bureau and the Illinois Gaming Commission for comment.