CHARLESTON — Health insurance for employees at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, expires next week, the same day the historic resort is being auctioned. According to The Real WV, an online news site focused on the state, Greenbrier employees received a letter on Monday from lawyers for the Amalgamated National Health Fund informing them that the Greenbrier is four months behind on its contributions to the hotel’s health insurance. According to attorney Ronald Richman of the New York law firm Schulte, Roth & Zabel, the Greenbrier is $2.4 million behind on its health insurance contributions, and will owe another $1.2 million if the contributions are not paid by the deadline of Tuesday, August 27. “If payments are not made on time, the Health Fund will suspend coverage of health insurance and benefits for all covered employees of the Greenbrier,” Richman wrote. “The Health Fund will pursue all available remedies, including but not limited to filing suit to recover the full amount of the delinquent contributions, plus interest, damages and attorneys’ fees…” Richman said in the letter that Greenbrier’s delinquent contributions also include employee contributions that were deducted from paychecks but not remitted to the Consolidated National Health Fund. Greenbrier has about 2,000 employees and is the largest employer in Greenbrier County. Greenbrier representatives did not respond to requests for comment. Tuesday, August 27, is the date that The Greenbrier is scheduled to be auctioned on the steps of the Greenbrier County Courthouse, following its foreclosure earlier this month. According to WV Metro News, Justice’s adult children, Jill and Jay Justice, filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in Greenbrier County Circuit Court on Monday morning to block the auction. JPMorgan Chase bank transferred the remainder of a $142 million loan Governor Justice took out on The Greenbrier in 2014 to Maryland-based Beltway Capital Management and McCormick 101 LLC on July 2, declaring the loan in default after Governor Justice failed to repay the full amount by the June 28 repayment deadline. Governor Justice has claimed without evidence that the transfer of the loan from JPMorgan to Beltway Capital/McCormick 101 was politically motivated to damage his U.S. Senate campaign, and has said that the loan had been repaid down to $9.4 million as of June and that he has not missed any payments. In a separate lawsuit filed in New York on July 18, Beltway Capital/McCormick 101 seeks payment of $40.3 million, plus interest and late fees accrued since July 15, from Justice, James C. Justice Companies, Justice Holdings, GSR, Wintergreen Partners and Greenbriar Hotel Corporation. Beltway Capital/McCormick 101 specializes in buying secured distressed loans such as real estate. JPMorgan and Justice have entered into six amended forbearance agreements since 2014, and the parties reached a new mutual agreement in 2021 after Justice pledged a second-lien security interest in the resort behind Carter Bank to obtain better terms on JPMorgan’s loan. The latest amended forbearance agreement was signed on December 29, 2023. According to an April 2 letter from J.P. Morgan sent to Governor Justice’s home in Lewisburg, the remaining loan amount is now due immediately due due to multiple defaults by Justice. However, Jill and Jay Justice argue that they currently own a majority interest in Greenbrier and were not parties to the original 2014 loan agreement between Governor Justice and J.P. Morgan. They also argue that a sale of Greenbrier would severely harm the local economy. “…the public interest is heavily biased in favor of blocking the sale,” wrote attorney Steven Ruby, who represents Greenbrier Hotel Co. and Jill and Jay Justice. “Greenbrier and its related entities are the economic lifeblood of Greenbrier County, employing approximately 2,000 people and indirectly supporting hundreds of thousands of additional jobs.” The delinquent medical contributions are not the only debt Greenbrier owes. According to tax records kept by the Greenbrier County Clerk’s Office, as of the end of July, Greenbrier Hotel Co. owed more than $2.7 million in liens and penalties for unpaid consumer sales, use and withholding taxes, as well as unpaid interest and penalties. Justice purchased Greenbrier from railroad company CSX in 2009. Since Justice first took office in 2017, Jill Justice has run Greenbrier while Justice has been governor, although Justice is still listed as CEO. Currently completing the final five months of his second and final term as West Virginia governor, Justice is a Republican candidate for the November Senate seat to compete for the seat of retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (IW.Va). Justice will face off against Democrat and former Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott in the general election. The Greenbriar is one of 147 assets listed on Justice’s U.S. Senate financial disclosure report and one of 108 companies listed in his 2024 financial disclosure report to the West Virginia Commission on Ethics, but it is not one of the eight companies held in the blind trust. Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.
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