Attorneys representing the family of U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., filed an amended complaint in Greenbrier County Circuit Court on Wednesday. They allege that Carter Bank and TRT Holdings – the parent company of Omni Hotels & Resorts – violated antitrust laws and conspired to get judges to give up ownership of The Greenbrier Resort. (Photo by Chris Jackson/West Virginia Watch)
As the future of The Greenbrier resort remains uncertain, attorneys for U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., filed an amended complaint Thursday in Greenbrier County Circuit Court alleging that TRT Holdings orchestrated a conspiracy to “snatch” the property from the Justice family.
The Greenbrier Resort has been owned by the Justice family since 2009, when Jim Justice bought it out of bankruptcy. In recent years, financial challenges surrounding the property have grown for the judges, who owed millions of dollars in loan repayments as well as taxes on The Greenbrier and several other nearby properties.
In the amended complaint In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, the judges allege that Texas-based TRT Holdings colluded with Carter Bank to prevent the judges from making payments on their loans. Carter Bank & Trust was a key lender to the Judges when they purchased The Greenbrier. In recent years, the relationship between the family and the bank has become strained as the bank claims that numerous loan and interest payments have not been made.
According to the amended complaint, TRT – the parent company of the Omni Hotels & Resorts chain, which includes the Homestead Resort, about 40 miles from The Greenbrier – and Carter Bank violated antitrust laws and used confidential information to sabotage refinancing efforts and force judges to default on the loan.
This was done, the complaint says, to eliminate competition between The Greenbrier and the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia. According to the complaint, hundreds of jobs in Greenbrier County could be at risk.
Steve Ruby, an attorney for the Justice family, explained the amended complaint to reporters during a virtual news conference Wednesday afternoon. In the lawsuit, the Justice family claims that TRT acquired the debt in September 2024 and that the Justice family only learned about it last week by reading a Dallas Morning News article, which Ruby described as “unbelievable.”
The debt came with a restriction that prohibited the company holding it from purchasing other debt from The Greenbrier without written permission from the resort, “which is exactly what TRT did last month without consent from The Greenbrier,” Ruby said.
The Greenbrier employs 2,000 people during peak season and is the county’s largest workforce as well as the region’s largest tourist attraction.
In the lawsuit, the Justice family alleges that Carter Bank prevented the family from repaying their loan and that TRT conspired to sell them to White Sulfur Springs Holding, Inc., a subsidiary of TRT.
In a statement about this West Virginia MetroNews ThursdayTRT Holdings said the judges’ latest allegations were false and an attempt to distract attention from the family’s failure to pay outstanding debts.
“Any claim that White Sulfur Springs Holdings, LLC (WSSH) was not authorized by law “The purchase of the debt is without merit,” the company wrote. “The facts are clear and well documented. The acquisition was made in full compliance with all applicable laws and agreements and WSSH and its affiliates have complied with all obligations under the debt agreements.”
Over the past 30 days, TRT wrote, the company sent the Justice family wire instructions to pay the debt, but failed to wire the payment.
“It is time for Senator Justice to pay off his debts or place The Greenbrier in the hands of someone with a long track record of serving iconic resorts and the communities they support,” the company wrote.
The Justice family’s complaint alleges that by sending a notice of default and filing a “meritless lawsuit,” TRT impaired the family’s ability to operate the business and pay employees and cast a shadow over the resort, resulting in sinking reservation rates and “permanent harm.”
“What TRT has done places a tremendous burden on The Greenbrier and the other Justice family companies,” Ruby told reporters. “It damaged her reputation. It damaged her relationships with her business partners.”
“As we sit here today, it is difficult to accurately quantify the amount of these damages, but the Justice family estimates that they are at least $500 million,” he said. Antitrust violations are associated with threefold damage, he said.
In the complaint, the Justice family says they received information that TRT intended to take over the Greenbrier Resort and operate the resort with Homestead employees.
“This would jeopardize the jobs of hundreds of West Virginians who work at the Greenbrier,” Ruby said. “There are a lot of West Virginia families – and those of you who have been to the Greenbrier know this – a lot of West Virginia families who have worked at the Greenbrier for generations. It’s not fair and it’s not right for their jobs to be put at risk.”
In its statement, TRT said claims of possible harm or job loss were “false.”
“Should WSSH or Omni Hotels Corporation participate in the operation of the hotel, they would be fully committed to the employees, the vendor community and all stakeholders at Greenbrier Resort, including fair treatment, competitive compensation and benefits, and compliance with all obligations, including contributions to employee benefit funds,” the company wrote.
The filings in Greenbrier County are separate from an ongoing federal case that WSSH filed against the judges in April. The holding company, which had secretly accumulated about $300 million in debt on the property, made one Movement on April 9 in federal court request to place the hotel under receivership. WSSH also requested a constant injunction to prevent the Justice family from further interfering with the property or its finances. In the event of a receivership, a third party would be appointed to manage the property and associated assets.
Just three days after the federal application was filed, the judges have filed their own lawsuit in Greenbrier County Circuit Court against TRT Holdings and Omni owners Robert and Blake Rowling. Sen. Justice called The allegations made by WSSH in federal court constituted a “false” and on April 16 it requested a stay of the case.
The future has been uncertain for The Greenbrier since at least 2024. In March of this year, the West Virginia Tax Department said seven liens filed worth more than $3.5 million against Justice-owned Greenbrier Hotel Corp. due to unpaid sales taxes on the hotel and associated properties. Jim Justice, who was serving his final year as governor of the state at the time, repeatedly said he was unaware of any problems at the resort, which is run by his daughter Jill Justice.
In August 2024, the popular resort’s financial situation became even worse. On August 1st, a legal advertising was published in the Lewisburg-based West Virginia Daily News and stated that the Greenbrier Resort would be go to public auction later that month because the judges defaulted on millions of dollars in loans. The loan, originally held by JPMorgan, was sold to Beltway Capital, which declared it in default for nonpayment.
Justice, who ran what? would be a successful campaign For the US Senate at the time, it was the political decision to seal off the resort. He said it was a conspiracy and an attack by Democrats who did not want him elected to federal office.
Less than a week before the auction was to take place, the Justice family reached an agreement with Beltway Capital to make unspecified payments on the loan that would stop the foreclosure. Little information was available at the time about how much would be paid – about $9 million was still owed – and over how long.
In November 2025Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Complaint against Jim and Cathy Justice, seeking to recover more than $5.1 million in unpaid federal income taxes stemming from their 2009 purchase of The Greenbrier. The judges quickly filed a lawsuit Movement You agree to make these payments together with all other accrued charges and interest.
For residents living near The Greenbrier, uncertainty surrounding the region’s largest employer and tourist attraction has created unease. In August 2024Residents were not hopeful after the public auction for the hotel was canceled. Instead, they wondered what the next challenge would be for the property and its owners.
While they said they would like to operate the resort locally, having “good, solid owners” is just as essential.
On Wednesday, Ruby said he didn’t believe anyone would benefit if operations at the Greenbrier Resort were taken over by an out-of-state company like Omni.
“I think it’s very valuable to me personally — and I think a lot of people in West Virginia agree with this — to have local ownership and local control, to have local businesses owned and operated by people who live in the community, see their neighbors every day and understand the needs of the community,” Ruby said. “I think it would be a real shame for Greenbrier County to lose that, and especially for a West Virginia treasure like the Greenbrier to become part of a huge out-of-state chain like Omni.”
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