FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Seminole Tribe of Florida and several members of its Board and Tribal Council are being sued as attorneys seek $250 million in damages.
In the court documents, attorney Gary Phillips, of the Mobile Mike Media Group, seeks damages for fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy to induce Mobile Mike to enter an operating agreement and engage in a "sham" to divest Mobile Mike of its business, and civil RICO.
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Attorneys said Mobile Mike Media Group, a Broward-based advertising agency, contracted with the Seminole tribe in 2011 to handle its advertising, events and promotions.
However, according to the lawsuit, tribal leaders soon reneged on the agreement and directed their media business to tribal member Sally Tommie instead, attorneys said.
"This is their M.O.," Phillips said, "They contract with proven experts to launch projects then they ignore the contract and cherry-pick someone else to reap the rewards."
In the lawsuit, Phillips alleges that members of the tribe engaged in a "carefully planned and orchestrated, intricate, sinister and devious course of action."
View: Complaint
Phillips said that the tribal leaders involved are hiding behind what they believe to be the protection of sovereign immunity laws.
"It doesn't matter who they are or how wealthy they are," Phillips said. "They can't enter into beneficial, legal contracts and then just stop paying because they feel like it."