NFL teams
Mike Triplett, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Tom Benson files dismissal motion

NFL, NBA, New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans

METAIRIE, La. -- Tom Benson's attorney fought back in court Tuesday, asking that the lawsuit filed against the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner by his daughter and grandchildren be dismissed.

Benson's daughter, Renee Benson, and grandchildren, Rita Benson LeBlanc and Ryan LeBlanc, are contesting Benson's recent decision to hand over control of his vast business empire to his wife of the past 10 years, Gayle Benson, in the event of his death.

Benson's former beneficiaries claimed in a lawsuit filed last week that the 87-year-old billionaire's "health and mental capacity have significantly declined" and that he has "fallen under the influence" of his third wife.

However, Benson's attorneys argued that the petitioners failed to state a valid cause for the "extreme" and "harsh" remedy of interdiction, which they said is the legal equivalent of "civil death." The legal response stated that even if all of their "spurious allegations" were accepted as true, they would still fail to satisfy the legal standards for such a ruling.

Furthermore, Benson's response included documentation that Benson transferred power of attorney over both his medical and business decisions to wife Gayle and Saints/Pelicans president Dennis Lauscha on Jan. 7 in the event that he is no longer able to make such decisions on his own, and that both transactions were witnessed by a physician.

A source close to Benson confirmed a Times-Picayune report that the steps Benson took to transfer ownership were videotaped, with lawyers, experts and doctors in his presence, in anticipation of any legal proceedings.

And Paul Cordes, who is Benson's lawyer in matters relating to the family trusts, told The Associated Press that he was with Tom Benson when the clubs' owner signed a letter explaining that he did not want to have further contact with his daughter or grandchildren and would ban them from team facilities and other business properties.

"Petitioners are not, as they claim in their Petition, seeking to protect Mr. Benson and his business interests," the filing read. "Rather, they are cynically employing the interdiction procedure to wrest control of those business interests from Mr. Benson."

Lawyers for Benson's daughter and grandchildren filed a response in court Wednesday, reiterating that it is "clearly" necessary for Benson to be examined by a psychiatrist because his physical and mental state are in dispute, according to the New Orleans Advocate.

Last week's lawsuit alleged that Benson's recent decisions to shut out his family members demonstrated "bizarre and uncharacteristic behavior" since he had been grooming his daughter and grandchildren for years to take over his businesses -- particularly granddaughter Rita. However, Benson's legal response claims that Benson had hoped to involve and groom them for years, but they, "unfortunately ... never rose to the task."

"After years of concern and misgivings about Petitioners' abilities to competently participate in (and eventually, perhaps, take over) the management of his businesses, Mr. Benson made the deliberate, reasoned, and difficult decision to change course and to name as his successor his loving wife, Gayle Benson ..." the filing read. "This was not the type of decision that could be made rashly or without reasoned deliberation. Indeed, it involved careful consideration with attorneys, accountants, executive staff, and clergy."

Benson's legal response further breaks down and refutes many of the allegations made in last week's lawsuit -- including that Benson's diet now consists mostly of candy, ice cream, sodas and red wine (which the response called "absurd" while pointing out that Benson has hired a nutritionist) and that Benson at one point guessed Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman when asked to identify the current president.

A source confirmed that Benson was responding to a concussion test at the time after he'd fallen and hit his head during last year's NFL owners meetings in Atlanta, as Wittmann also told The Associated Press and Saints officials told NOLA.com.

Benson's fall and concussion treatment were well-publicized. He had flown to Atlanta for the meetings shortly after having knee surgery and tripped on a podium while taking part in New Orleans' most recent Super Bowl bid.

According to the source and those accounts, Benson correctly identified where he was and why he was in Atlanta but couldn't recall the name of the current president. They also said Rita Benson LeBlanc was standing beside Benson at the time.

Last week's lawsuit never specified when Benson allegedly failed to name the president.

"He was being asked questions they ask football players suspected of having concussions," Wittmann said, dismissing the notion that the answers portrayed Benson's general mental health.

The response pointed out that there was no factual support for many of the allegations; that there were no mentions of any particular infirmity, such as Alzheimer's disease or dementia; that advanced age alone does not count as an infirmity; and that the majority of allegations refer to isolated incidents from which Benson has recovered, such as recent knee surgeries and being medicated as a result.

The response also points out that Benson's decisions were not made out of "spite" since his daughter and grandchildren are still the beneficiaries of "hundreds of millions of dollars" through various trust interests.

Sources within the Saints and Pelicans organizations similarly portrayed Benson's decision as a gradual one that grew more intense in recent months, especially as he experienced more health issues -- something Benson mentioned in his own statements.

However, attorney Randy Smith, who represents Renee Benson and her children, released a statement Sunday night reiterating many of the points made in the lawsuit and citing them as examples that don't illustrate a "thoughtful personnel change" -- including the email Benson purportedly sent when he severed all ties with them on the Saturday after Christmas "in oversized font with no letterhead."

"In some quarters a narrative has been put forward that suggests that Tom Benson, after much deliberation, made a considered decision to reverse decades of plans to have Rita succeed him as the designated owner of the Saints and replace Rita with his wife Gayle," Smith said in the statement. "Instead, the evidence suggests that Tom Benson, in a weakened mental and physical state, was unduly influenced to suddenly sever all relations with his daughter and grandchildren."

This lawsuit is not the only hurdle Benson must pass in order to fully transfer ownership of his businesses to his wife upon his death.

There are also legal issues regarding the removal of the sports teams from a family trust. And any new ownership would have to be approved by the rest of the NFL and NBA owners at some unspecified point in the future.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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