Lawsuit: Owners seek to rescind abortion clinic's lease, claiming fraud

BRISTOL, Va. — The execution of a commercial lease last year is at the center of a lawsuit against a Bristol, Virginia, abortion clinic.In December, Kilo Delta, which owns the property at 2603 Osborne St. near the new casino, sued Bristol Women's Health PLLC and two of its officers, Wesley Adams Jr. and Diane Derzis. The suit, filed in the circuit court for the City of Bristol, seeks to have the lease rescinded and asks for restitution.Kilo Delta, a real estate development and management firm operated by Chadwick King and Chase King, claims the defendants "willfully concealed" their plan to offer abortions at the clinic.On May 13, 2022, the Kings said they were contacted by their real estate agent regarding their commercial lease listing on Osborne Street, according to files obtained by Bristol Now. The agent said he had been contacted by another agent, who said she had a client interested in leasing the property, according to the suit.On May 24, 2022, the defendants' agent submitted a letter of intent to lease the property and identified the proposed use of the property as a "medical clinic," the suit states. Between May 24-27, the agent represented that her clients had a "general family practice," the suit states.A meeting was later held in early June, and the agent and Chase King exchanged an executed lease agreement, deposit check and keys to the property.The Kings said they learned from one of their employees that the defendants were "actually engaged in operating an abortion clinic" on State Street in Bristol, Tennessee, and they believed that they intended to utilize the Osborne Street property for the same use, the suit states.At the time, the state of Tennessee had enacted "very restrictive laws" regarding abortions, and the defendants said they were going to close their Tennessee clinic, the suit states.After hearing this information, the Kings immediately contacted the defendants' real estate agent to propose the lease agreement be terminated, as they were morally opposed to the property being used as an abortion clinic, the suit states.The Kings said they had been misled and would never have leased the property to the defendants if they had disclosed "their true intended purpose." The Kings claim the defendants and the agent "willfully concealed" the information.The suit says that the real estate agent attempted to negotiate and amend the lease agreement that would limit the use of the property to a scope of service that would administer a prescription for chemically induced abortion within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The Kings refused the amendment and demanded the lease agreement be terminated.After further discussion regarding the lease, the suit says Adams and the defendants began moving forward with establishing their clinic on the Osborne Street property.The suit claims the defendants committed "actual fraud and active concealment."The defendants filed a demurrer on Jan. 6, 2023, and said the plaintiffs failed to state a claim for which relief can be granted."Defendants and their agent did not have any duty to Plaintiff to provide detailed information about the type of services to be provided at the premises," the defendants state in the demurrer.Bristol Women's Health is a medical clinic, the defendants state, and the complaint does not allege the plaintiffs ever asked whether abortions would be performed at the property."Defendants cannot be liable for any failure of plaintiff to exercise due diligence to investigate proposed tenants or determine the nature of the services to be performed on the premises," the demurrer states.The demurrer notes that Adams and Derzis, who are listed as defendants, are not parties to the commercial lease agreement.The defendants ask the case to be dismissed. A motion hearing is scheduled for court on April 10, according to the circuit court.