BECKLEY – The Greenbrier has filed a countersuit against an Indian American family that says it was discriminated against and treated poorly by resort staff, saying the family actually owes more than $350,000 in unpaid gambling debts.
Arun, Parmla, Aman, Emily, Ashwin, Puja, Arjun and Rishi Aggarwal filed their federal complaint February 22 in federal court against Greenbrier Hotel Corportion, which is owned by West Virginia Jim Justice. The family’s complaint says it was discriminated against because of its heritage and that several members of the family were given free alcohol that led them to losing a large amount in the resort’s casino.
In a March 16 answer and counterclaim, attorneys for The Greenbrier allege Aman, Arjun and Ashwin Aggarwal used markers to purchase and gamble way a combined $365,000 in casino chips, but those markers (essentially checks) were not honored by their bank. It also says their party was disruptive and verbally abusive at various areas of the resort and have repeatedly filed false and made false claims against The Greenbrier in an attempt to avoid paying their gambling debts.
The Aggarwals filed their federal complaint February 22 in federal court against The Greenbrier, which is owned by West Virginia Jim Justice. Their complaint says they were discriminated against because of their heritage and were given free alcohol that led them to losing a large amount in the resort’s casino.
According to the complaint, the North Carolina family were guests of The Greenbrier from September 18 to September 20, 2021. The resort had offered the plaintiffs a complimentary two-night stay in exchange for bringing a party to the hotel to gamble in its casino. They were given a parlor of four guest rooms and other amenities.
The complaint says the family from Raleigh had stayed at the resort numerous times.
The party with which the family was traveling included three Caucasians, including two who are not related by blood or marriage to the plaintiffs. After being given complimentary champagne upon arrival, the male plaintiffs soon went to the casino where the wait staff “began plying plaintiffs with large quantities of alcohol, including service of drinks before plaintiffs had finished previously served drinks.”
By late afternoon, the complaint says Arun, Ashwin, Aman and Arjun Aggarwal were heavily intoxicated and displaying “unmistakable signs” such as slurred speech, glassy eyes and abnormal gait.
Still, the staff continued to serve them large amounts of free alcohol and continued to allow them to draw on their lines of credit and “gamble their money away.” Even when Emily Aggarwal told a waitress that Aman Aggarwal had enough alcohol to drink and requested water, the waitress brought more alcohol instead, according to the complaint.
The complaint says Ashwin, Aman and Arjun Aggarwal began incurring “substantial gambling losses” after they became heavily intoxicated. Still, it also says the party was not unreasonably unruly or disruptive in the casino.
After gaming, the plaintiffs went to wait on a shuttle bus to take them to the Sam Snead Restaurant for dinner. After waiting 15-20 minutes, the bus arrived. But Arjun Aggarwal was in the restroom. The others asked the driver if he could wait, but he refused. And when the plaintiffs arrived for their reservation at 8:45 p.m., the staff claimed their reservation was for 8 p.m. and refused to seat them. The plaintiffs say the reservation was for 8:30 p.m.
They secured a reservation at The Greenbrier’s Prime 44 restaurant, but the same shuttle driver arrived to take them there. He refused to transport them, saying “absolutely not” before shutting the door in their faces, according to the complaint. But it also says he allowed five Caucasian men to board the bus, including one who was with the plaintiffs.
After a verbal exchange with the plaintiffs, the driver got out of the bus and called security. The plaintiffs say they told security they believed they were being treated differently because of their heritage.
“Don’t pull the race card,” one of the security guards said, according to the complaint.
Once the plaintiffs arrived at Prime 44, staff refused to serve any of them alcohol even though not all of them had previously been drinking.
After dinner, the plaintiffs went back to the casino to gamble and dance. They say a security guard named Jacob Coleman “rudely and aggressively admonished” Ashwin Aggarwal to wear his mask.
“When plaintiff Puja Aggarwal attempted to point out that others in the hotel were not wearing masks, Mr. Coleman aggressively put his hand up in her face to silence her,” the complaint states. “During this entire stay and on previous occasions, The Greenbrier staff vigorously enforced their mask policy against the Indian American plaintiffs while Caucasian guests were permitted to walk around freely without masks. One of the Caucasian members of the plaintiffs’ group went maskless for the entire stay but was never admonished like the Indian American plaintiffs.”
On earlier visits, the family says it had experienced situations where The Greenbrier treated them differently than non-Indian American guests. That includes strict enforcement of the COVID-19 masking requirement for them while Caucasian guests went “maskless with impunity.” The family also says they had been required to show identification to enter the casino, but Caucasian guests were not required to do so.
Soon after entering the casino, Aman Aggarwal says he was told by Coleman his party had to leave because they had been banned from the casino for the night. He was assured they party could re-enter the casino the next day.
Still, some of the plaintiffs remained in the casino. Ashwin Aggarwal did, and he says he was given more free alcohol and allowed to gamble in a heavily impaired state. Later, Ashwin’s wife Puja asked a waitress to bring him coffee instead of alcohol. But she returned with vodka.
The complaint says Ashwin Aggarwal was allowed to gamble until the early morning hours and ultimately lost all of his credit line of $180,000. That included a substantial sum after returning to the casino from dinner.
On the morning of September 19, Rishi and Sunil Aggarwal were denied entry into the casino. The Greenbrier then informed the plaintiffs they all were banned from entering the casino, according to the complaint. Then, the plaintiffs say they were told their complimentary stay had been revoked and had to leave within two hours.
“The non-Aggarwal Caucasian members of the plaintiffs’ traveling party were allowed to continue their complimentary stay until the following day and were not banned from the casino during the remainder of their stay despite being present for the behavior upon which the Aggarwal ban/revocation was purportedly based,” the complaint states.
Later, Aman Aggarwal had a phone conversation with Steve Johnson from The Greenbrier. He tried to tell Johnson the plaintiffs believed they were treated poorly because of their heritage, but Johnson again told him not to “play the race card.”
The plaintiffs accuse The Greenbrier of violating their civil rights, denying public accommodation in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act and breaching their contract.
In its answer, The Greenbrier says Aman, Arjun and Ashwin Aggarwal used markers to fund their gambling. Aman Aggarwal executed four markers totaling $100,000. Arjun Aggarwal executed four markers totaling $85,000, and Ashwin Aggarwal executed nine markers totaling $180,000.
“The Greenbrier provided Aman, Arjun and Ashwin Aggarwal with casino chips in the amounts stated on the markers in exchange for and in reliance on the markers,” the counterclaim states. “Each of Aman, Arjun and Ashwin Aggarwal proceeded to gamble away the chips that The Greenbrier provided to them in exchange for these markers.”
The resort also says it attempted to deposit the markers after the 45-day payment period, but the family’s bank dishonored all of the markers. All but two of them were for insufficient funds. The other two indicated Aman Aggarwal had stopped payment on them.
In addition, the resort says the Aggarwals and others in their party were unruly and disruptive. That behavior, according to the counterclaim, included cursing loudly, yelling at each other, refusing to wear a mask under the county mandate and yelling at casino staff when asked to wear masks properly.
It also says Arun Aggarwal lit a cigarette in the casino before exiting to smoke. When he tried to reenter the casino, Greenbrier security denied him reentry because of the smoking and because of his apparent level of intoxication.
“Arun then denied that he had been smoking and accused the security officers of racism,” the counterclaim states.
Regarding the shuttle bus incident, the resort says the driver waited for Arjun Aggarwal for several minutes, but one passenger said he was running late. So the driver told the family he’d come right back to get Arjun.
The family “began cursing and shouting at the bus driver, saying, among other things, ‘turn the f---ing bus around’ and ‘this f---ing driver is stupid,’” the counterclaim states.
The resort says the family arrived at Sam Snead’s restaurant at 9:30, but the restaurant closed at 9. Their reservation was for 8:30, according to the resort.
At Prime 44, resort staff told the party they would not be served alcohol because of the apparent intoxication of many in their party and because of their behavior elsewhere in the resort. The Greenbrier says the family proceeded to complain and argue loudly and with frequent profanity, causing a disturbance.
After the family finished their meals, Aman Aggarwal “asserted that the food was bad and that they would not pay for it,” the counterclaim states. “When the restaurant manager attempted to explain that if they did not like their food, then they should have said something before eating it all, Arun Aggarwal loudly and repeatedly shouted, ‘call the cops!’”
When Aman Aggarwal later tried to return to the casino, Coleman said the party wasn’t being allowed back in because of the disruptive behavior. The resort says some members of the party already were in the casino, but Coleman didn’t know they were part of the disruptive dinner party. Aman Aggarwal then told Coleman he needed to cash out a sports betting ticket and pay off his markers, so Coleman escorted him into the casino.
“Once inside the casino, Aman declared that he was not going to pay off his markers and refused to leave,” the counterclaim states. “Aman pointed to two other individuals who … were part of the dinner party. One of these individuals was a Causasian male.
“After these two individuals confirmed that they were in fact part of the dinner party, Coleman immediately instructed them to leave the casino. Both promptly complied.”
But Aman Aggarwal still refused to leave, according to the counterclaim. Coleman asked other resort personnel to contact law enforcement. That’s when Aman left the casino, but not before his wife Emily ripped his mask off, threw it on the ground and cursed loudly at resort staff.
The next day, after reviewing the incidents, Greenbrier management told the Aggarwals they would not be allowed in the casino for the rest of their stay and that the second night of the stay would not be complimentary. The party then left the resort.
The resort says the Aggarwals later filed a complaint with the West Virginia Lottery Commission accusing the resort of racial discrimination and gaming unfairness for denying them reentry into the casino. The commission reviewed the matter and decided The Greenbrier did nothing wrong, according to the counterclaim.
On November 30, the Aggarwals filed a pro se complaint in Greenbrier Circuit Court against the resort. They voluntarily dismissed that complaint before filing this one in federal court.
The resort says the court filings and the Lottery Commission complaint “make false allegations and materially misstate events to make it sound as though The Greenbrier acted against (the Aggarwals) based on their race instead of their disruptive and abusive behavior.”
The family “lost more money at The Greenbrier’s casino on the weekend of September 18, 2021, than they have ever lost during any prior visit,” the counterclaim states. They “would not have filed their complaint – or the proceeding circuit court and Lottery Commission complaints – if they had not lost hundreds of thousands of dollars at The Greenbrier’s casino on the weekend in question.”
The Aggarwals say they suffered economic damages, annoyance, inconvenience, embarrassment, humiliation, loss of dignity and emotional distress. They seek compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief. The family is being represented by Kurt Entsminger of Estep Entsminger Law Group in Charleston and by Michael Addair of Addair Law Office in Hurricane.
The Greenbrier seeks damages for fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment for the dishonored markers. It also seeks damages for the family’s alleged abuse of the legal process to gain leverage and “strong-arm it into compromising their gambling debts.” It also seeks pre- and post-judgment interest, punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs and other relief. The resort is being represented by David Pogue and Steve Ruby of Carey Douglas Kessler & Ruby in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 5:22-cv-00091