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A Whatcom County judge will soon decide whether a company trying to collect on millions in unpaid Nooksack River Casino loans has a right to the future money-making use of the building.

Lawyers for the Nooksack Business Corporation, owned by the Nooksack Indian Tribe, and Outsource Services Management, a loan servicing company, met before Superior Court Judge Deborra Garrett on Friday afternoon, Dec. 18. The parties argued whether Outsource would have the right to collect money from non-casino activities in the building since the Deming casino suddenly ceased operations last week.

Outsource, which is now owed more than $20.7 million in loans and fees, contends that if the building is converted into a business other than a casino, the company could still collect on those revenues to pay back the loan under a portion of their contract with Nooksack, but the tribal entity disagrees.

Lawyer Connie Sue Martin, on behalf of the Nooksacks, argued Friday that imposing an order against the building would be against federal law because the structure is on property held in trust for the tribe by the U.S. government.

Judge Garrett said she was leaning toward agreeing with the definition presented by Outsource’s lawyer Jerry Miranowski, but said she would wait to decide on the new argument Martin made.

“The issue of federal jurisdiction and the enforceability of that paragraph has just come before the court,” Garrett said. “I’m inclined to go with the broader definition of revenues of activities in the building unless I’m persuaded this court does not have jurisdiction to enforce the terms of this agreement.”

Garrett planned to make her decision by Wednesday, Dec. 23, if possible, and if not, by some time the following week.

Employees in limbo

Meanwhile, dozens of employees who suddenly lost their jobs when the casino was shut down Friday, Dec. 11 are still struggling to figure out what is going on and what to do next.

The casino was shut down with so little notice that some of its roughly 125 employees only found out when they showed up for their Friday evening shift and the doors were locked.

One of those employees was 62-year-old table game dealer Alan Mullen, who said he left work around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, with no one mentioning the casino would be closed.

“I did not find out until 10 minutes before I thought my shift was about to start on Friday,” he said. “I thought that was a little shabby.”

When he arrived, he said, someone let him into the employee break room and a woman he did not recognize told him the casino was closed and asked for his tribal gaming badge.

“I was stunned stupid and not really able to ask a few questions I wish I would have been able to bother with,” he said.

Questions like, “Will we get paid for our unused vacation time?” and “What will happen with our insurance coverage?”

Mullen and fellow table game dealer Lisa Hinkel said they found out the answer to the second question soon enough.

Mullen filled prescriptions and was told his insurance had lapsed Dec. 11. Hinkel, 45, had a doctor’s appointment and was told her card was no longer valid, so she had to pay the fees out of her own pocket.

“It’s paid up, but I was told by my insurance company it’s no longer in effect,” Hinkel said. “I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on. You call out there and there’s no (human resources). So you’re in a job you’ve had for five years you lose overnight, and now you can’t even call anybody to ask a question.”

Hinkel said that when she had been laid off from a previous job, a human resources representative helped her and others through the process, but that hasn’t been the case with the casino.

“They just pretty much left everyone hanging,” Hinkel said. “I feel really bad; I’m a single girl so I can take care of myself, but for all those with families, I feel really bad for them.”

Hinkel and Mullen both said they had gone to WorkSource Whatcom Career Center in Bellingham to set up appointments and find out if they want to go through retraining for another job.

Both said employees had been told a few months earlier that the casino might close, but that they had no idea how impending that closure was.

“It was always a ‘may,’ it was never it ‘will’ close,” Mullen said. “It seemed like things were not perfect by any stretch, but they seemed like they were going OK, and then the rug got pulled out from underneath us.”