Appellate court affirms rejection of Barden suit over Detroit casinos

Jim Suhr

Monday, Oct. 23, 2000 | 4:22 a.m.

DETROIT - Millionaire businessman Don Barden has no legal standing to challenge being spurned for a Detroit casino license during a selection process he deemed unfair, a federal appeals court affirmed Monday.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge's dismissal last year of Barden's $108 million lawsuit against the city and state over being denied a development deal for one of Detroit's three planned casinos.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen had ruled in July 1999 that Barden, owner of the Majestic Star in Gary, Ind., voluntarily signed away any right to sue over his being passed over in the casino-selection process. That ruling cleared the way for the MGM Grand Detroit to become the city's first casino to open days later. The MotorCity Casino opened five months later.

On Monday, a three-judge panel with the federal court in Cincinnati wrote that Barden had no standing to sue and "suffered no injury-in-fact," regardless of his debated signing away of his right to take the case to court.

"The dismissal of Barden's suit will be affirmed on that basis," Monday's ruling read.

Barden and his attorney, Robert Carson of Birmingham, did not immediately return telephone messages seeking comment on Monday's ruling, including whether they would continue appealing.

Mayoral spokesman Greg Bowens said Monday's move bolsters "our belief all along that this particular action (by Barden) was doomed to failure," despite having cost taxpayers untold sums for the city's defense against Barden's claims.

"We hope to see the drain on the coffer stop now," Bowens said. "The mayor has an obligation to defend the people of Detroit against these lawsuits. And every appeal is another park, another cop, another improvement that could be used to benefit all."

In suing in May 1999, Barden wanted Rosen to block the opening of all three Detroit casinos - MGM Grand, MotorCity and the Greektown one now scheduled to open Nov. 10 - because he said the selection process was unfair.

Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, in picking the three casinos, rejected proposals from Barden, Mirage Resorts, Donald Trump and the late Mayor Coleman Young.

Barden claimed that "preferences" for two casino developers were unconstitutional, that the City Council should have had the right to approve the three casino applications separately rather than as a group, and that a waiver Barden was required to sign to be considered was improper.

The Greektown and MotorCity groups were given a "preference" for two of the three casinos because their investors played instrumental roles in persuading Michigan voters in 1996 to legalize casino gambling in Detroit, Barden has claimed.

Archer has said he only applied the preference to Greektown when he chose it over Mirage Resorts; the MotorCity proposal, he said, was good enough to merit selection without a preference.

"If the mayor's testimony is true (and we have been given no reason to believe it is not)," Monday's ruling read, "the preference provision did not operate to the detriment of Barden at all."

After Archer's rejection of Barden's bid for a casino license, Barden's efforts led to a 1998 ballot issue that would have required a license be given to a black majority enterprise, notably his. Voters rejected that proposal and backed Archer's choices of the three casino groups.