Charleston Place is suing the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, alleging that the GOP group stiffed the ritzy hotel on a $227,872 tab during a January stay for the party's primary.
The conference lined up a Jan. 19-22 stay back in March and booked nearly every room in the luxury hotel in the center of downtown Charleston, according to the lawsuit. Political consultant Robert Cahaly signed the agreement on behalf of the group.
Charleston Place alleges that the conference was so poorly attended that many of its sponsors pulled out and former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich bailed on a planned appearance.
Associated Press
A supporter of Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, carries a sign at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, in Charleston
When it came time to pay the bill, conference officials allegedly skipped out on their obligations and left Charleston Place holding the bag for the attendee's lodging, food and beverages, according to the lawsuit. The hotel is seeking full payment of the bill, as well as punitive damages.
The conference issued a statement this morning disputing the lawsuit's claims and promising that its own counter-claim is on the way.
The statement read:
"After prepaying over $235,000 to the Charleston Place Hotel, we at SRLC 2012 had an unprofessional experience that directly and indirectly breached our contract causing great harm and distraction to our attendees, sponsors, and staff. The Charleston Place's attempt to mischaracterize this legitimate dispute as the SRLC's walking away from a bill is in keeping with the pattern of deception and misrepresentation that is a significant part of our ongoing disagreement.
"We continue to seek a reasonable and equitable settlement even as the Charleston Place's Management seeks to sensationalize. We sincerely hope that cooler heads at the Charleston Place will prevail and they will acknowledge serious errors and actions resulting in a fair agreement."
The group referred further questions to its attorney, John Harrell, who not immediately available for comment.
The lawsuit states that conference leaders cancelled a planned meeting to settle the bill on Jan. 22, sending Charleston Place an email filled with fabricated claims about billing discrepancies, ill treatment by the hotel's staff and a hotel manager's attempt to get a conference staffer to engage in unspecified illegal activity, the lawsuit states.
The hotel wants to hold Cahalay and others personally responsible for the tab, arguing that the Southern Republican Leadership Conference is nothing but a corporate shell Cahaly uses to hide from his obligations, the lawsuit states.
The conference's web site offers a much different take on the outcome of the event. The conferences "speakers, presidential candidates, panels, and globally-televised presidential debate" leading up to the state's first-in-the-South primary secured its place "among the most successful Republican conferences ever," according to one blog post.
