Reilly Stephens
Reilly Stephens is a Senior Counsel at Liberty Justice Center, where he assists in cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property, and other Constitutional rights in courts across the country.
On January 30, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit against Mayor Brandon Johnson, the city of Chicago, Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Irvin, Bally’s Chicago Operating Company, and several members of the Illinois Gaming Board to challenge a contract that imposes explicit race-based and sex-based quotas on an upcoming casino project.
In 2022, the city of Chicago selected Bally’s Chicago Operating Company to develop the city’s first integrated casino. In a Host Community Agreement (HCA), the city’s government conditioned approval of the project on including various “minority preferences” that impose race-based and sex-based quotas on all elements of the project—including initial construction, employee hiring, board composition, and overall ownership.
Notably, the city’s mandatory quotas include a 25% minority requirement on casino ownership, a 40% minority requirement on board composition, and a “commitment to tak[ing] commercially reasonable efforts to maintain” a 60% minority workforce to staff the casino.
In order to meet these quotas, Bally’s registered an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 10,000 shares that it will only sell to investors who meet the definition of “minority” imposed by the city of Chicago’s HCA. As a result, when Illinois resident and would-be investor Mark Glennon—a man who does not self-identify as any of the racial or ethnic groups included in Chicago’s definition of “minority”—submitted an application to invest on January 25, he was excluded from participating in Bally’s securities offering specifically due to his race and sex.
On January 30, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit on Mr. Glennon’s behalf to enforce his statutory and constitutional rights and to hold the city of Chicago accountable for forcing Bally’s to discriminate against potential investors on the basis of their race and sex.
“Chicago’s government has blatantly violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause by requiring a private business to enforce discriminatory provisions under threat of severe financial loss,” said Reilly Stephens, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “Ultimately, the city has created a racial classification requirement that cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny. We urge the court not only to strike it down, but also order Chicago’s government to never again enact such a discriminatory quid pro quo development agreement.”
In addition to filing suit to challenge Chicago’s violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Liberty Justice Center also filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order in the case. If the court grants this order, the city of Chicago will be prohibited from enforcing its racial and sexual quotas on the casino project while the lawsuit proceeds through the courts.
Glennon v. Johnson was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, on January 30, 2025.
Reilly Stephens is a Senior Counsel at Liberty Justice Center, where he assists in cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property, and other Constitutional rights in courts across the country.
Bridget Conlan is a Staff Attorney at Liberty Justice Center.
(Loop North News)—Bally’s has decided to drop racial limitations from its planned $250 million initial public offering (IPO) for its $1.7 billion Chicago casino project. Following lawsuits by the Liberty Justice Center and the American Alliance for Equal Rights, Bally’s acknowledged that the initial requirements limited investment opportunities mainly to...
(Cook County Record)—Attorneys who helped lead one of the legal actions challenging actions by casino operator Bally’s and Chicago City Hall to allegedly illegally block out white investors from buying a stake in Bally’s planned new Chicago casino have declared victory, after Bally’s reportedly dropped limitations in its IPO, allegedly...
(The Armchair Trader)—Chicago casino Bally’s backed away from its original plans to launch a share scheme targeted at minorities, following a legal challenge from the Liberty Justice Centre. Bally’s had originally registered an IPO which was only available to investors that met Chicago’s definition of a minority. The Liberty Justice...
(The Center Square)—A federal lawsuit against Bally’s Casino, the city of Chicago and the Illinois Gaming Board has been dropped after Bally’s agreed to revise its initial public offering to potential investors. The case was closed after Bally’s agreed to restructure its IPO to no longer require purchasers to be...
(Casino.org)—A conservative legal group representing the plaintiff in a suit against Bally’s (NYSE: BALY.T) and the city of Chicago declared victory in a case involving the casino operator’s planned initial public offering (IPO) in the city, which originally attempted to bar white men from purchasing shares. The Liberty Justice Center,...
(Next.io)—Bally’s has revised the terms of its public offering associated with a Chicago casino project, leading to the dismissal of a lawsuit targeting the scheme over complaints of discrimination. Bally’s update, which removed previously mandated race- and gender-based eligibility requirements, was outlined in a new securities filing dated 22 April,...
(Wirepoints)—Today the Liberty Justice Center celebrates a significant victory in Glennon v. Johnson after Bally’s Corporation announced a revised public offering for its Chicago casino project that no longer illegal discriminates on the basis of race or gender. In a new securities filing dated April 22, Bally’s finally removed the...
(Providence Business Journal)—The IPO for women and minorities faces legal challenges and has yet to be approved by the SEC. Bally’s Chicago is working to sell $195 million in private shares as its controversial race and gender-based IPO remains stalled. The company, a subsidiary of the Providence-based Bally’s Corp., is...
(Cook County Record)—Mark Glennon, an Illinois resident, has filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago and several associated parties, challenging what he claims are discriminatory practices in a casino development project. The complaint was filed on January 30, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Northern District...