Jim Justice outside The Greenbrier
BECKLEY – A federal judge has ordered U.S. Senator Jim Justice’s Greenbrier companies to publicly file a redacted version of a proposed financing term sheet they say will wipe out their debt to a Texas creditor, temporarily rejecting their bid to keep the document secret while asking to delay key hearings in the case.
In a memorandum opinion and order entered May 26, U.S. District Judge Frank Volk directed the Greenbrier-related defendants to file by Wednesday a redacted version of the term sheet they say underpins up to $500 million in new financing. The defendants also must file a supplemental brief that pinpoints which specific portions of the term sheet they claim are trade secrets and explains in detail how each satisfies the federal requirement that a trade secret derive “independent economic value” from not being generally known.
The order comes in a lawsuit in Beckley federal court brought by White Sulphur Springs Holdings, a Texas company affiliated with Omni Hotels & Resorts, against Justice, wife Cathy Justice, son James C. Justice and a slate of Greenbrier-related entities over hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged debt tied to the resort.
The Justice defendants have asked Volk to push back all briefing deadlines for 60 days, continue a June 1 prehearing conference and a June 8 evidentiary hearing, and set a telephonic status conference the week of June 22. They argue they have secured a term sheet for new financing that would allow them to repay “the total amount of debt” WSSH claims is owed, which they say would moot pending motions and “resolve this action.”
WSSH opposes the delay, telling the court no binding offer to repay has been made and that the defendants only “expect” to close on non‑binding financing from an unnamed lender on undisclosed terms that could fall apart at any time. The plaintiff also accuses the Justice entities of repeatedly violating a Fourteenth Amended and Restated Forbearance Agreement by failing to provide required monthly financial reports, bank statements and details on transfers and refinancing efforts, and says they have previously used non‑binding letters of intent to stall litigation without ever producing a binding, non‑contingent commitment.
Separately, the defendants asked to submit the term sheet under seal for in camera review, saying it contains “highly sensitive financial and business information and trade secrets” reflecting proprietary business strategies of both the Greenbrier entities and their financing partner. They warn that competitors could use the information to undercut the lender in other deals, and point to WSSH’s affiliation with Omni and its Homestead resort in Virginia – which they describe as The Greenbrier’s “most significant competitor” – as a reason even the plaintiff should not see the document.
Volk acknowledged that trade secrets and confidential business information can justify limited sealing in some circumstances and noted that Congress and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide protections for such material. But he emphasized the Fourth Circuit’s strong presumption of public access to court records and said parties cannot “simply incant a trade-secret justification without specificity,” faulting the Justice defendants for not yet showing that the term sheet’s contents truly have independent economic value from secrecy.
The judge said he saw “much” in the term sheet that could not reasonably raise trade‑secret concerns and stressed that redaction, not wholesale sealing, is the “preferred middle road” when courts limit public access. Making a redacted version public, he wrote, could give WSSH enough information to respond to the request for a 60‑day pause and help the court decide whether any further in camera review is necessary.
At the same time, Volk warned that the Justice defendants are asking him to use an undisclosed document, “ex parte and in camera no less,” to halt “pivotal proceedings,” a step he said demands “careful scrutiny” given the justice system’s reliance on public access, party participation and adversarial testing. He suggested the Greenbrier side may need to revisit confidentiality issues with their financing partner as they prepare the court‑ordered redactions and supplemental filing.
In a separate ruling in the same order, Volk granted the West Virginia State Tax Division’s motion to file a late response after its counsel missed a deadline due to email problems, deeming that response timely.
The legal battle for The Greenbrier seems to change nearly every day.
After the Justice family said it has secured financing to satisfy the loans at the heart of the litigation, the group wanting to wrestle control of the resort from the senator’s family doesn’t put much stock in that announcement.
“The purported financing could vanish at any moment,” wrote White Sulphur Springs Holdings, an affiliate of Omni Hotels & Resorts, in a May 23 response. “Instead of notifying WSSH directly, defendants trumpeted their alleged financing to the press. This is not productive. It is an attempt to stay these proceedings and delay paying their obligations.”
When the Justice family announced the financial agreement May 22, it did not name a specific lender nor a monetary amount.
“This is not defendants’ first attempt to brandish non-binding letters of intent to forestall litigation and collection,” WSSH wrote. “But defendants have never presented a non-contingent, binding financing commitment accompanied by an agreement to satisfy their obligations indefeasibly and in full. Nor do they now.
“Extending the current deadlines will prejudice WSSH, providing yet another detour for defendants to misappropriate funds from The Greenbrier Resort while continuing to drain the value and reputation of The Greenbrier.”
Also in its May 22 filing, the Justice family asked for deadlines and hearings to be delayed 60 days because of the financing deal. They said the agreement was “with a well-qualified, highly capitalized financing partner to secure financing to repay the balance of the loans in full.” They said the deal is expected to close by the end of June.
“The specific terms of the financing are commercially sensitive and subject to a nondisclosure requirement, but defendants can provide the full term sheet to the court for in camera review if doing so would assist the court,” attorneys for the Justice family wrote.
In opposing the Justices’ requested continuance, the other side seems skeptical of all of it.
“Defendants failed to provide WSSH with any meaningful information regarding the terms of the ‘expected’ financing to allow WSSH to make an informed decision concerning their motion to continue,” WSSH wrote in its response. “Nor have defendants given the court any such evidence, suggesting only that they would file the term sheet in camera for the court to review, which they have not yet done. …
“’Likely’ isn’t certainty. Aspirational future events do not constitute good cause. … Defendants’ complaint of reputational harm also misses the mark. This lawsuit, and defendants’ chronic failure to honor their obligations, are already public and widely covered in the press. And correctly so. Defendants cannot now argue that proceeding on the current schedule will prejudice their ability to secure financing –as evidenced by their own representation that they have already obtained a term sheet.”
Justice, a Republican, and his family are in an aggressive two-front court fight over control of The Greenbrier after WSSH bought nearly $300 million of the resort’s debt and moved to put it into receivership. Justice purchased the resort out of bankruptcy in 2009.
WSSH does not own the hotel but does own the debt. It’s an affiliate of Texas-based TRT Holdings, which is owned by Texas billionaire Robert Rowling. His son Blake is the company’s president. Omni operates more than 50 luxury properties, including The Homestead, which is about an hour away from The Greenbrier.
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A third class action lawsuit has been filed regarding deficient mammograms at The Greenbrier Clinic.
The latest lawsuit was filed May 20 in federal court against the clinic. April Wilson and Erin Dotson, two Greenbrier County women, are the named plaintiffs.
Like the other two suits, this complaint alleging the clinic provided subpar mammograms to more than 1,000 patients for more than two years before the FDA forced it to stop performing the screenings.
Last month, two similar class actions were filed against the clinic – one in federal court and one in state court. The clinic is the healthcare facility at The Greenbrier Resort, which is owned by the Justice family.
According to the complaint, the clinic provided faulty mammograms to hundreds of West Virginia patients for more than two years despite marketing itself as offering “state-of-the-art” diagnostic services, including 3D mammography and holding itself out as an accredited facility under the federal Mammography Quality Standards Act.
But in late March, the named plaintiffs here and other patients received a letter from the clinic saying mammograms performed from October 2023 to February 2026 were defective.
The latest class action was filed by Bruce E. Mattock and Leif J. Ocheltree of Goldberg Persky & White in Pittsburgh.
United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case numbers 5:26-cv-00257 (Greenbrier Resort) and 5:26-cv-00355 (Greenbrier Clinic)
