The Cordish Companies, owners and operators of the Power & Light District in Kansas City, are alleging a Kansas lawyer conspired to extort “large amounts of money” from Cordish as part of race discrimination lawsuit against the company.
In a racketeering lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Kansas City, Kan., Cordish further alleges Dickens Law LLC, principal Linda Dickens and attorney Austin Johnston engaged in witness tampering, and that Linda Dickens either deliberately or recklessly lied to the news media .
The allegations stem from actions taken by Dickens and her firm in the course of representing a client – a Cordish employee — with claims of racial discrimination and wrongful termination.
A statement from Cordish Wednesday says the employee was fired because of an altercation that occurred on company property and an ensuing police report.
“We subsequently received numerous threats and demands,” the Cordish statement continues, “ that contained false and malicious statements about us and our businesses that focused on promises to use the press to embarrass us and damage our reputation.”
Attempts to reach the Dickens law firm this afternoon were unsuccessful.
