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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

School Can’t Recover Embezzled Funds

(CN) - A New Orleans charter school cannot recover funds from a casino after an employee embezzled funds and gambled them away, a Louisiana appeals court ruled.

NOLA 180 is a non-profit organization that runs Langston Hughes Academy Charter School. Its financial officer, Kelly Thompson, is in federal prison after being convicted of embezzling $667,000 from her employer.

The non-profit sued Jazz Casino Co. LLC, stating that it "substantially participated in and facilitated the gambling obsession of Thompson."

The Orleans Parish district court ruled in favor of the casino, stating that NOLA did not have a cause of action. On appeal, the Fourth District Louisiana Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling.

"Our reading of the statutes regulating gambling in this state leads us to the conclusion that Jazz Casino is relieved of any duty to identify compulsive gamblers," Judge Daniel Dysart wrote on behalf of the New Orleans-based court.

"The law provides that a casino must disseminated information regarding programs to assist persons who recognize themselves as problem gamblers, and to allow those persons to self-report," he added.

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