LIHUE, Kauai — A lawsuit has been filed in a Virginia federal court against the developers and architect rebuilding the Coco Palms Hotel in Hawaii.
The suit filed in late March by Virginia resident Ruthann Caudill, president of the Jacob Broom Society, cites alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act, desecration of graves and the prevention of religious freedom, The Garden Island reported .
It seeks damages of $3.5 million.
The basis of the suit is activity that started on March 16 at the Coco Palms site, according to the lawsuit.
Caudill declined to comment, the newspaper reported.
A lawyer for the three people targeted in the lawsuit said it won’t stand up in court because it wasn’t filed against the development company Coco Palms LLC.
It was filed against Tyler Greene, Chad Waters and Ron Agor.
Their lawyer, Pierce Murphy, filed a motion to dismiss Caudill’s suit because Hawaii courts have already ruled in favor of Coco Palms Hui LLC, and because Caudill lives in a suburb of Washington, D.C.
“She claims a right to sue my clients under, among other things, the 19th century treaty between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the United States, which is about as realistic as if I were to sue you for violating the Treaty of Versailles,” Murphy said.
Murphy is defending two other clients in cases filed by Caudill in U.S. court, he said.