By: Mark Glennon*
Two lawsuits are now pending challenging racial and gender discrimination in a securities offering by Bally’s Chicago, Inc.
Bally’s and the City of Chicago are defendants in both cases.
Background on this matter is here, from the Liberty Justice Center, which represents me, personally, in one of the lawsuits. (The action is independent from Wirepoints.)
In my lawsuit, Glennon v. Johnson, a federal court on Friday denied our request for a temporary restraining order, though the underlying lawsuit will proceed. The court dismissed the TRO request for two reasons. First, the judge found that no “irreparable harm” would result from denying the TRO. He concluded that damages would provide an adequate remedy if the claim is properly established, making a TRO unnecessary.
Second, the judge found no “state action” in the facts he reviewed. The state action issue is a complex one that we will write about separately at some point. However, you can find the judge’s discussion of it in his Order issued Friday.
I respect the judge’s decision but disagree. The lawsuit will continue in the ordinary course.
The other lawsuit was filed the day before mine, also in the Northern District of Illinois federal court, by two individuals from Texas. It makes substantially the same discrimination claims as mine, though they sought no TRO. Their complaint is here and the case is titled American Alliance For Equal Rights v. City of Chicago.
The Bally’s securities offering is a public offering. Final approval of the registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission was planned for today, Friday, though we have seen no confirmation that has occured.
It’s important to note that the lawsuits are distinct from a separate but important matter. A number of articles, including mine, question whether the offering, which is highly risky and speculative, is suitable for ordinary investors to whom it is offered. We also question the offering as a means to achieving “generational wealth,” as was claimed by Cook County Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin. I don’t believe it is, though I was ready, willing and able to purchase shares when barred by the race and gender restriction. Those matters of suitability for the general public are not the basis of the lawsuits.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Bailly ‘s – theft by deception is the name of the game.
Have you brought your case to the attention of national venues such as Dan Bongino, Benny Johnson, or Charlie Kirk? If they discussed it on their show that would spread the word further into the ears of Congress alone. DOGE might be interested to know about it & Pam Bondi’s team as well since they already have litigation going against Chicago they could also add Bally’s & maybe deter future bigotry by businesses.
We will at the right time. This judge would never have ruled in our favor. There is much more to this and we have a number of options.
Hopefully the challenge(s) can make it to the SCOTUS, for they have significant merit and would very likely win. My concern is not with winning out at the SCOTUS, but will Democrats abide by the ruling? Biden, Democrats, and in particular IL Democrats have repeatedly thumbed their noses at court rulings against them – complete lawlessness, best described by their ‘lawfare’ even more so. Bally’s has made an awful business decesion to be in Chicago and IL – the full cost is way more than what it may appear due to endless strings and corruption. Plus their properties could quickly… Read more »
The SEC needs to investigate this deal.
LOL you never had a shot at winning this case with this judge. Valderrama was appointed as the one liberal judge to Trump’s three patriot judges of four judges appointed in total to the northern district in 2020. Durbin said this was his guy, he got to pick one judge in 2020 while Trump nominated the other three: ““Under the longstanding bipartisan judicial selection system we have in Illinois, the President’s party selects the candidates for three out of four district court vacancies and the other party selects the candidate for the fourth. Then the parties negotiate until they reach an… Read more »
Jonathan Turley’s take on it, based on the lawsuit by the other plaintiffs: https://jonathanturley.org/2025/01/31/center-of-the-action-ballys-chicago-casino-sued-for-discrimination-against-white-investors/
another grifter takes the blades for filing frivolous lawsuit
Explain in detail.
Explain your comment- very specifically.
Not the OP, but I am a lawyer, and I think what Joe up there meant was that not even someone as, er, “optimistic” as Mark could ever believe the claim had any merit.
Wrong, LL. I am very optimistic. I am not surprised by the TRO ruling because TROs are always hard to get, and this particular judge would never go for this one. But the discrimination is blatant and overt. Not one of many lawyers I spoke to about this expressed any pessimism. Writing about the other case that’s nearly identical to mine, law prof Jonathan Turley wrote: “Bally’s is caught between a rock and a hard place in this controversy. In its SEC filing, the company noted that the HCA could expose it to lawsuits and force it to incur “substantial costs.” The… Read more »
Discrimination is obviously illegal but the judge is a hardcore Democrat and follows party directives regardless of the law. This is what has become of the federal judiciary post-Obama when Harry Reid got rid of the filibuster for judicial nominees. Now the senate pushes through partisan partisan judges without any opposition from the minority party. Even applying for the job as a federal judge requires an informal fealty to party-line politics, whereas before, becoming a federal judge was more about excellent credentials. Becoming a federal judge used to reserved for top students from prestigious law schools with career tracks at… Read more »
It will take decades to restore the integrity of the judiciary, the Justice Department and the Bar.
Congress can impeach these judges but they won’t. Both Trump and Biden put judicial nominations to the forefront of the Senate agenda, each confirming absurd numbers of judges, many from low ranked law schools and ignoring all prior precedent to only take the highest credentialed judges. The federal judiciary now is as partisan and hack as Cook County, except it’s half Republican and half Democrat. Maybe this is a good thing though, if litigants know that sound and just legal decisions are unlikely, they will settle disputes outside of court. Or maybe it will push for more private arbitration. It’s… Read more »