Defendants in Paragon class-action lawsuit also named in Frankfort lawsuit

Two women who are defendants in a federal class-action lawsuit in Lexington also are among defendants in a civil lawsuit in Frankfort.

The civil lawsuit was filed in Franklin Circuit Court by Louisville-based PBI Bank in late July. An amended complaint was filed Aug. 20.

The defendants are Ann Giles and Lu Anne Wallace, and several health care firms with which they are associated.

Wallace and Giles also are defendants in the federal class-action suit in Lexington, along with Paragon Family Practice and several associated health care businesses.

Plaintiffs in the federal case, who are employees of some of those businesses, claim that their company health insurance lapsed because Giles, Wallace and the other defendants didn't pay the premiums.

Plaintiffs also allege that the defendants have continued to deduct retirement contributions from their paychecks but haven't been moving the money into their 401(k) accounts.

The Franklin County lawsuit lists Giles and Wallace as defendants with Franklin Medical Ventures Inc.; Medical Property Ventures LLC; Primary Care Express, doing business as Anderson Primary Care LLC; and Associates in Cardiology. The firms all have offices in Lexington, according to the Frankfort lawsuit.

PBI says in the lawsuit that Giles and Franklin Medical Ventures executed a promissory note with the bank for $1,018,000 in September 2009, and that Wallace secured it with a commercial guaranty in which "she absolutely and unconditionally guaranteed full repayment of the note."

The note is now in default, the bank says.

PBI is seeking to recover more than $926,000 from the defendants. The bank also wants a declaration that it has a first lien on real estate on Chamberlain Avenue in Frankfort that the defendants put up to secure the note.

Meanwhile, a Frankfort development firm, C. Michael Davenport Inc., has filed a counterclaim, saying that Franklin Medical Ventures also executed a promissory note for $279,500 and that Lu Anne Wallace secured the note with a personal guaranty. That note also is in default, Davenport alleges.

Davenport is seeking to recover the amount owed, and it wants the court to declare that it has a valid mortgage lien against the same Chamberlain Avenue property cited in PBI's suit.

This story was originally published August 27, 2013 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Defendants in Paragon class-action lawsuit also named in Frankfort lawsuit."