On Wednesday, Saints owner Tom Benson announced a change in plans for who would take over control of the Saints upon his death.
Benson announced his wife Gayle would assume ownership, a change from previous plans to bequeath the team to his daughter Renee LeBlanc, his grandson Ryan LeBlanc and his granddaughter Rita Benson LeBlanc. Benson LeBlanc, whose management style has come under fire in the past, was the presumed successor to her grandfather with the Saints (and the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans) and the three family members passed over are fighting Benson’s decision.
Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that LeBlanc and her children are named as petitioners in a lawsuit filed on Thursday that claims Benson is incompetent to make such decisions after a series of health issues. Per Duncan, the suit, filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court, brings “numerous claims that Benson is mentally and physically unfit to manage his personal or business affairs.” It also attempts to paint Gayle Benson, who has been married to Tom Benson for 10 years, as a “a gold-digging opportunist” trying to get her hands on the teams and Benson’s other business interests.
The suit asks that Benson’s daughter be appointed as executor of his sports and business holdings with his granddaughter as the secondary executor.
