Court: Casino not immune in traffic crash lawsuit

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – The Alabama Supreme Court has denied the Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ request to dismiss a lawsuit involving a former patron at one of the tribe’s casinos.

At issue is a lawsuit filed by Adrianne Kelly and Edward Gilbert last year. They maintain in the lawsuit that they were injured by a man who they say was intoxicated when he left the Creek Casino Montgomery in the summer of 2011.

Al.com reports that the tribe claims sovereign immunity from such lawsuits.

The state’s highest court disagreed.

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore wrote that Poarch Creek waived its immunity from lawsuits filed in state court when it bought insurance as a condition to get its alcohol license with Alabama’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.