Lawsuit may loom for Mon County Commissioner Ed Hawkins, family

Morgantown Shrine Club and Mountaineer Patrol are asking a judge not to dismiss its lawsuit against Monongalia County Commissioner Ed Hawkins and his siblings, Terry Hawkins and Linda Dimmick.
That organization filed a response to a motion by Hawkins and his siblings, which asked the judge to dismiss the original lawsuit.
The motion to dismiss claimed the Morgantown Shrine Club and Mountaineer Patrol is not a legal entity and could not file a lawsuit because searches of several databases, including the West Virginia Secretary of State, did not show the organization.
In its response to the dismissal motion, filed Sept. 4 in Monongalia County Circuit Court, Morgantown Shrine Club and Mountaineer Patrol states it is a recognized nonprofit under West Virginia law and has been for decades. The response stated the organization operates under its parent organization, Shriners International.
It disputes the claim made in the dismissal motion that it is not a legal entity because the dismissal motion did not define legal entity.
Ed Hawkins didn’t question the validity or existence of Mountaineer Patrol when he sent a letter to the organization’s president and in that letter he acknowledged receiving payment of the annual lease obligation, the response said.
“Clearly, defendants know this entity exists and there is no viable or sound reason for their motion to dismiss,” the response stated.
The response also stated it cannot verify the sufficiency of the searches performed by the defendants’ counsel, but said it does exist under the umbrella of Shriners International and there are numerous references to the organization online.
The dismissal request filed by Hawkins and his siblings also alleged Mountaineer Patrol violated the terms of the lease and requested a termination of the lease. The response, denied any lease violations by the organization.
The organization further stated that the only party to violate the lease so far is Ed Hawkins when he placed a lock without notice and denied Mountaineer Patrol entry to the property.
The original suit, filed by Mountaineer Patrol, claimed the defendants violated a contract signed in 1986 by their parents, both of whom are deceased, which allowed use of the family’s property by the nonprofit organization for a period of 99 years.
According to the filing, Hawkins, the executor of his mother’s estate, sent a letter to the plaintiff on Monongalia County Commission letterhead imposing restrictions or obligations not in the original lease agreement pertaining to access for both the plaintiff and defendants and the payment of real estate taxes.
The suit requests injunctive relief to prevent further intervention by the defendants and claims the actions of the defendants amounts to tortious interference as it is “malicious and deliberate.”
The suit said the defendants are in breach of the original contract and seeking unjust enrichment by asking for property tax payments not provided for in the 1986 agreement.