NEW ORLEANS — Before she became the founder and captain of Nyx – now the embattled captain – Julie Lea was a New Orleans police officer for 18 years. She rose to the rank of lieutenant.
Her attorney Doug Sunseri says she got the idea for an all-female Carnival krewe working on parade routes as a cop.
“She'd look up at those floats and she'd say, ‘You know, those guys are having a good time on those super krewes.’ And she had a vision: ‘I want a super krewe for ladies,’ ” Sunseri said.
In less than a decade, Lea's idea became a reality. Popular for its decorated purses, Nyx became one of the largest parading krewes in Carnival, featuring about 3,400 riders.
“She had that dream,” Sunseri said. “And that should be celebrated. Her time in the NOPD should be celebrated.”
But even more quickly than it took off, a cascade of controversies brought Lea and Nyx down to earth. First was the tragedy-marred parade of 2020, cut short when a woman was killed by a Nyx float. That sparked a wrongful death lawsuit.
A break with Nyx's longtime float builder, PFJ Floats, led to another suit against Lea and Nyx claiming breach of contract.
But the biggest blow came shortly after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis cop. With the nation rocked by protests, Lea published an Instagram post stating, “#All Lives Matter.”
“It was ill-timed, ignorant. It showed no awareness of what was going on in the country at the time,” said ex-Nyx member and lawsuit plaintiff Holly McKenney.
Lea offered an apology, but when she refused to embrace the phrase “Black Lives Matter” members defected by the hundreds. Many who had paid their dues demanded refunds.
McKenney was among them.
“We got an email that said we're working on our refund policy. And that's never happened,” she said.
Sunseri said Nyx’s membership application clearly states the krewe’s policy: No refunds. He admitted there were discussions with some disgruntled members about giving them their money back, but nothing materialized.
“A discussion about a possible resolution, in law, it’s called settlement negotiations,” Sunseri said.
More than two dozen members went to small claims court to get their money back, filing handwritten petitions for amounts ranging from $150 to $950.
“You've got people in real hardships that could use that money,” McKenney said. “And you're not doing the right thing. That makes no sense to me.”
Not only did Lea refuse to pay, the krewe counter-sued in an attempt to get a blanket ruling on the request for refunds.
In response, five of the members launched the legal equivalent of a nuclear bomb: A class action lawsuit accusing Lea of “fraud,” “self-dealing” and “racketeering.”
If the case goes before a judge or jury, the stakes could be high. As a class action lawsuit alleging racketeering, triple damages could be awarded if the plaintiffs are successful.
“The fraud, misrepresentation and deceptive acts of Julie Lea offend established policy and are immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous and substantially injurious,” the lawsuit claims.
Sunseri says the allegations are empty.
“This petition, it's just a hamburger without the hamburger and only buns,” he said.
Multiple allegation in the lawsuit claim Lea lined her own pockets by forcing members to pay cash for things like membership cards, bus fees, parade-day access to floats to load throws and tips for tractor drivers. The suit accuses Lea of “living lavishly on the back of former members.”
Sunseri flat-out denied the claim that float drivers weren’t paid. Other expenses, he said, were legitimate, the equivalent of paying for extra services at school fair or sporting event.
The plaintiffs also accuse Lea of pocketing money that had been gathered in a fundraiser for a member whose house was destroyed in a fire. Sunseri questioned whether there was actually a fire at the home of ex-member Cantrece Reed, one of the plaintiffs in the suit.
“The plaintiff alleged that that she had a house fire,” Sunseri said. “We have no record that she did.”
Sunseri vowed to defend against the allegations in court if necessary, but he also offered an olive branch: An opening for settlement talks and, perhaps, a chance to heal the bad blood.
“If everybody sat down in the same room without lawyers and just talked from the heart, this would be all worked out,” he said. “I think a lot of healing could be done…Julie would be willing to open up her mind and heart to listen to the other side in a very respectful forum.”
In the meantime, Sunseri said he is in the process of filing objections to the lawsuit to try to get it dismissed before it ever gets off the ground.