Harrahs Sued By Lake Charles Riverboat Developer
Lake Charles Riverboat has sued Harrah's because it did too little to protect it from Hurricane Katrina and sued it for the proposed sale violation of the state and federal law.
Wednesday, August 9, Jebaco Inc. filed a lawsuit against Harrah's Entertainment in New Orleans. The lawsuit includes some limited liability companies and their insurers.
Jebaco already sold its interest in the boat in 2000 to Player's International, but with a term of $1.53 for each person who boarded the twin riverboat to be given to Jebaco. The payment continued on even after Harrah's bought Players.
However, the riverboat casino never re-opened after the hurricane last September 24; instead Harrah's sold the boat to Pinnacle.
Pinnacle refuses to pay the fee since they are not operating in the original Lake Charles site anymore. Pinnacle wants to move the riverboat casino next to its L'Auberge du Lac resort, after they received the vote with permission to move.
The lawsuit stated that Harrah's could have done more to protect the boat. "Several other riverboat gaming operators in Lake Charles took significant precautions to protect their vessels from the hurricane, including anchoring those vessels in the center of Lake Charles to prevent the vessels from ramming into docks or other embankments."
Other riverboats, Pinnacle's L'Auberge Du Lac and another two by Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. had little damage compared to them.
According to the lawsuit, Harrah's allegedly wanted to get out of the Lake Charles market because "Harrah's executives did not feel that the Lake Charles facility befit the Harrah's name or was upscale enough to be Harrah's facility."
"It was easier for Harrah's to... contract with Pinnacle to monopolize and exclude competition in the casino gaming market than it would be for them to stay in the market and therefore have to recapitalize, pay Jebaco pursuant to the settlement agreement, and pay the City of Lake Charles," the lawsuit states.
