The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority and its former President and CEO Speros Batistatos could be headed to court over their suits against each other, if mediation doesn’t resolve them first.
On Sept. 10, United States District Court Northern District of Indiana Magistrate John E. Martin filed an order that requires both parties to have all fact discovery completed by June 30, 2025, and all expert discovery by September 30, 2025, according to court documents. Summary judgment deadlines won’t apply, court documents said, and the parties will also need to complete mediation by September 30, 2025.
Batistatos sued the SSCVA in August 2022 — a month after it fired him — alleging it violated the law in the handling of his contract renegotiations due to his age — he was 58 at the time — as well as misspent federal Payroll Protection Plan funds in violation of the CARES Act, a claim the board disputes. His suit named the SSCVA as well as 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.
Notices of intent to sue were also sent to McDermott and attorney Kevin Smith for $2.5 million alleging defamation for their actions around the time Batistatos was relieved of his duties by the board. 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.
The counterclaim, filed June 20 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division, accused Speros A. Batistatos of selling back unused vacation time as deferred compensation to the tune of $400,000. He did this, the claim alleges, by “Inappropriately report(ing) his time not working for the SSCVA as Floating Holidays or personal days, rather than vacation days.”
“Between 2014 and 2021, Batistatos received over $200,000 from the SSCVA (South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority) in Vacation Day buy-backs that were accrued by his erroneous and deceptive reporting of time off,” the claim reads. “Batistatos was aware that he had not properly earned the benefits he entered (or directed others to enter) on his time records.”
The SSCVA also maintains that Batistatos “was aware” he didn’t receive permission to roll over his time-off benefits after 2013 but had received proper approval in 2011 and 2013.
On June 18th, Senior U.S. District Court Senior Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen filed three motions: one denying the dismissal of Batistatos’s lawsuit and one removing McDermott in his official capacity as mayor from Batistatos’s lawsuit. McDermott as himself and the City of Hammond remain on the suit, however. The third motion allows Batistatos to refile his suit against McDermott’s Left of Center Media LLC and Left of Center podcast, court documents said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
