Scott files defamation lawsuit against Vernon Downs boss

VERNON, N.Y. – An investor who used to control Vernon Downs has filed a defamation lawsuit against the chairman of the track’s parent company.

Shawn Scott alleges that Mid-State Raceway Chairman Paul Noyes ruined Scott’s reputation by comments Noyes made at a news conference last month regarding the track’s finances.

The suit also says Noyes and a business associate, Jeff Gural, have tried to diminish the value of Vernon Downs so Gural could buy it cheaply.

“I am deeply troubled by the continuous actions orchestrated by Mr. Noyes and his associates against me and my colleagues over the past two years,” Scott said in a prepared statement.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Scott now lives and works, quotes Noyes as saying at the news conference: “This track has been badly mismanaged. It has been raped. . . . I’m talking about Shawn Scott. That’s where the rape took place.” Noyes did not back away from his criticism of Scott. “What he did at Vernon was a disgrace,” Noyes said.

It’s the second lawsuit that Scott – who ran the track from late 2001 until April – has filed against Noyes. Both suits have accused Noyes and Gural of engaging in “a concerted campaign” against Scott.

Scott was a key figure in the controversy over racinos in Maine. After purchasing Bangor Historic Track and winning voter approval for slot machines, he agreed to sell the harness track to Penn National Gaming.

At Vernon Downs, Scott was denied a license to run the track by the state and sold his 52 percent of Mid-State stock in April. The first suit was dropped after Scott left the track and Noyes took over as chairman.