Chicago sued by white men barred from Bally’s casino investment

Bally’s Corp. and the City of Chicago were accused of discriminating against white men in a lawsuit by a conservative legal group challenging a $1.7 billion casino project that offered a 25% ownership stake only to women and people of color.

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The city violated the civil rights of Richard Fisher and Phillip Aronoff, who said they were unable to invest in the project because they’re White men, according to the suit filed Wednesday in federal court by the American Alliance for Equal Rights.

“We’re not trying to stop the casino, we’re trying to stop the race discrimination,” Dan Lennington, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “The minute they insert race-based qualifications into an investment, that’s when it becomes illegal and invalid under federal law.”

Bally’s devised the share-purchase program to make good on a pledge made in its casino bid to bring under-represented groups into the project and help build wealth in the local community. But such diversity, equity and inclusion practices have come under fire in the private sector and are getting rolled back by the federal government under the new Trump administration.

The suit challenges a provision in the Illinois Gambling Act requiring gaming companies to establish diversity programs that award 25% of contracts and other agreements to women and minority-owned businesses. In 2022, when the city awarded its sole casino license to Bally’s, the deal included plans to offer a stake to minorities and women.

“Bally’s has a binding Host Community Agreement with the City of Chicago to build what will be the best regional casino in the country,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Bally’s honors its commitments.”

A spokeswoman for the Illinois Gaming Board declined to comment. The city of Chicago law office didn’t respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Last month, Bally’s announced the initial public offering of Class A shares that would provide a 25% equity stake only to women and minorities. But the suit alleges the limitations — which bar initial investors from reselling their shares to White males — are illegal.

Fisher and Aranoff “would like to be dealt in on this offering but are excluded from the table solely based on immutable characteristics,” according to the lawsuit. “In short, defendants have stacked the deck against them.”

The plaintiffs are asking a judge to order Bally’s to sell them Class A shares and to lift the restriction in resale of shares to White men.

American Alliance for Equal Rights focuses on lawsuits targeting DEI initiatives and “distinctions made on the basis of race and ethnicity,” according to its website. The organization was founded by conservative legal activist Edward Blum.

The case is American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Chicago, 25-cv-01017, US District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

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