The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority’s counterclaims against former President and CEO Speros Batistatos stem from that body’s own failure to read the documents it has had all along, a new filing in the case asserts, as well as retaliation for Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. not getting released from his lawsuit.
A response Batistatos’s attorneys filed July 15th with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division, states that the SSCVA’s June 20th counterclaim that Batistatos “Inappropriately report(ed) his time not working for the SSCVA as Floating Holidays or personal days, rather than vacation days” as deferred compensation of $400,0000 is “futile” since his contract — of which the Post-Tribune reviewed a copy signed in 2016 by former SSCVA Chairman Dale Johnson — states that Batistatos “will have no regular business hours,” and “[h]e may be required to work evening hours and weekends.” The SSCVA maintains that Batistatos “was aware” he didn’t receive permission to roll over his time-off benefits after 2013 and had received proper approval in 2011 and 2013, the Post-Tribune previously reported.
“Contrary to SSCVA’s bald assertions, the Employment Handbook specifically permitted SSCVA employees, including Mr. Batistatos, to roll over sick time “to a maximum of 20 days,” his motion states, noting the SSCVA’s 2019 Employee Handbook, of which the Post-Tribune has reviewed. “Furthermore, not only was Mr. Batistatos’s time tracked to the nearest quarter of the hour on a daily basis, each of Mr. Batistatos’s timesheets were reviewed by (Human Resources), audited by the (Chief Financial Officer) of SSCVA, approved by the SSCVA’s own Board Treasurer every other week, and approved by the entire Board every month,” Batistatos said in an affidavit, of which the Post-Tribune also has reviewed.
Batistatos’s contract also states that if he’s terminated, the SSCVA Board “shall cause to have an immediate audit of the funds and property of (SSCVA), even if said audit must be conducted by a private firm rather than the Indiana State Board of Accounts.” The SSCVA, however, never noted any issues on any audit before June 20th, the motion reads.
“By its own admission, SSCVA had all of the information that it needed to discover this purported fraud, yet SSCVA failed to pursue any claims against Mr. Batistatos until now,” the motion said.
The counterclaim’s timing was particularly odious, according to the motion, since the counterclaim was filed two days after Senior U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen denied dismissing Batistatos’s suit, didn’t remove McDermott and the City of Hammond from the suit and will allow Batistatos to refile his defamation suit against McDermott’s Left of Center Media LLC and Left of Center podcast. The motion does note that because of a “technical glitch, the parties were not served with the order on Mr. McDermott and the City of Hammond’s Motion to Dismiss until June 27.”
McDermott didn’t respond to a request for comment. SSCVA Attorney Scott McClure, meanwhile, said in an email that the board has no comment on pending litigation.
Van Bokkelen has yet to rule on whether he will accept the SSCVA’s counterclaim.
In August 2022, Batistatos sued the SSCVA, alleging it violated the law in the handling of his contract renegotiations due to his age — 58 — and misspent federal Payroll Protection Plan funds in violation of the CARES Act, the Post-Tribune previously reported. Notices of intent to sue were also sent to McDermott and attorney Kevin Smith for $2.5 million for defamation for their actions around the time Batistatos was relieved of his duties by the board.
The suit named the SSCVA as well as its board chairman Andy Qunell, and several individual board members, including Hard Rock Casino General Manager Matt Schuffert, local restaurateur Brent Brashier, Tom Dabertin and local realtor Matt Maloney. In it, Batistatos claimed the SSCVA board engaged an outside attorney to renegotiate his contract, which was to expire Dec. 31, 2022, as well as formed a compensation committee to assist in the renegotiation.
The suit alleged many emails were sent between board members, and meetings were conducted in January and May regarding the negotiations. Batistatos said he informed the compensation committee and select board members he wanted to work four-and-half more years before retiring, but after May, negotiations stopped, he said in the complaint.
The board relieved Batistatos of his duties July 15, 2022.
Batsitatos alleged in the complaint that the compensation he was entitled to receive under his contract was not paid. He also alleged the board retaliated against him for complaining about discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, as amended.
Batistatos continued to be paid his salary, but the board has made clear he was no under consideration to continue as president and CEO after Dec. 31.
The suit also alleged the SSCVA board misspent PPP funds when it disbursed “no strings attached” expenditures of $25,000 each to 15 different municipalities in violation of the CARES Act. The law required 60% of PPP funds to be used for payroll and the remaining 40% for overhead. The SSCVA received about $388,500 in PPP funds. The board has disputed this claim.
In the notice sent to McDermott, Batistatos alleged McDermott conspired and made a backdoor deal with the SSCVA board to dismiss a pending lawsuit against the SSCVA if Payroll Protection Plan funds were given out to aid his and other municipalities. He also said McDermott “stated he would dismiss the lawsuit if Mr. Batistatos were terminated from his position at the SSCVA,” as well as making other Mr. McDermott made “numerous defamatory statements” against him on McDermott’s podcast with Kevin Smith entitled Left of Center Podcast, according to the document.
In August 2023, Van Bokkelen dismissed claims against Smith and Left of Center Media, LLC, which produces McDermott’s podcast, as well as axing Batistatos’ claim of “tortious interference” with “contractual and business relationships” against McDermott and the city of Hammond.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.