Council files suit vs. Montour

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) has countersued the former head of Mohawk Online, accusing him of defamation and breach of contract for statements he made to The Eastern Door outlining the demise of the community’s internet gaming arm. 

According to the MCK’s filing, former Mohawk Online CEO Dean Montour was warned by Council on June 25 not to disclose any confidential information about the community-owned entity, of which MCK is the sole shareholder.

By this time, Montour’s lawsuit was already grabbing headlines at the height of Kahnawake’s election season after it was revealed by The Eastern Door in May. 

The subsequent article about the downfall of Mohawk Online was published in The Eastern Door on June 28, leading the MCK to demand a retraction from Montour for his allegedly defamatory statement. It is not clear how this newspaper could have been compelled to participate in such a retraction. 

The defamation claim against Montour stems from this quote: "Mohawk Online was very successful, but it turned into a catastrophic failure because of the fact that they (MCK) interfered and intervened to basically make it fail.”

Mohawk Online has generated more than $39 million since 2015, pouring $23 million into the MCK’s coffers in that time. But those days are gone, with then-MCK grand chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer admitting publicly on June 24 at the grand chief candidates’ debate that the company has “no future,” a declaration that preceded The Eastern Door’s article quoting Montour. 

The MCK has still never officially confirmed the fate of Mohawk Online.

Montour’s lawsuit, filed in March, targets then-MCK chief Cody Diabo – now the grand chief – alleging defamation and wrongful termination for his dismissal as the head of Mohawk Online and the events leading up to it.

The Council inserted itself into the lawsuit by authorizing its legal team to fight for Diabo as a chief, with MCK as a party to the lawsuit.

The MCK’s countersuit, filed August 26, seeks at least $45,000 from Montour, suggesting his revelations about the state of negotiations with Entain, a major online gaming company and a partner of Mohawk Online, could “cause long-standing and incalculable damages to the MCK.”

The countersuit also claims Montour has “imperiled MCK’s ability to move forward with a new gaming partner” by casting doubt on Council’s ability to maintain confidentiality.

The countersuit includes a laundry list of items the MCK casts as disclosures of confidential information. These pertain largely to Council’s business arrangements with entities that could shield Kahnawake from fees, tax liabilities, and dealings with Ontario following the implementation of that province’s iGaming regulatory scheme, which the MCK fought in an ill-fated lawsuit.

Among the disclosures cited by the MCK in its countersuit against Montour is his contention that Mohawk Online winding down – costing the community millions in lost revenues – would be “a shame and unfortunate for the community."

As well as launching a countersuit, the MCK asked in its filing for Montour’s lawsuit to be thrown out, arguing that Montour was an independent contractor whose termination did not violate his contractual terms, using as its reason Mohawk Online’s zero revenue during the 30-day period leading up to the termination, which had been a clause in his contract.

Montour argued previously that this stipulation did not reflect the reality of Mohawk Online at the time and that the same thing had already happened several times without ramification or warning to him.

The MCK also argued that Diabo did not defame Montour and that no financial or reputational harm was levied by Diabo’s statements.

Montour's lawsuit was a significant thread in the July 6 election; the news of the legal action was revealed by The Eastern Door during the campaign period, and a Public Relations Unit-imposed media blackout ostensibly prevented key players from answering questions surrounding not one but two candidates for grand chief – eventual winner Diabo and incumbent Sky-Deer. 

Sky-Deer and Ross Montour, then as now an MCK chief, received brief suspensions from their colleagues for their role in the events leading to the lawsuit, which claimed Dean Montour learned of the statements by Diabo from Sky-Deer and Ross Montour.

These suspensions were not revealed by the MCK and still have not been confirmed publicly by the Council, but were instead discovered and corroborated with sources by The Eastern Door. 

The MCK declined to comment for this article, citing the pending litigation.

“As before, we will not be providing comments on contractual matters that are before the courts,” said MCK spokesperson Lisa Lahache.

This article was originally published in print on September 13 in issue 33.37 of The Eastern Door.

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