DeSoto Board of Supervisors, county visitors bureau want Landers Center suit tossed out before trial
The Landers Center is a multipurpose arena. (Toni Lepeska/Special to The Daily Memphian)
The DeSoto County Board of Supervisors and the DeSoto County Convention and Visitors Bureau want a federal judge to toss out the lawsuit filed against them alleging they fired the former executive director of the Landers Center for booking Black acts.
Todd Mastry filed suit in 2025 claiming he was terminated because he refused to stop booking Black acts after requests and alleged racist comments from county supervisors and members of the Visitors Bureau. Former Landers Center CFO Jason Morgan was fired along with Mastry. Morgan also filed suit months after Mastry, alleging he lost his job for supporting the acts Mastry booked.
The Board of Supervisors and the Visitors Bureau want Mastry’s suit dismissed ahead of the scheduled trial next February. The two entities have not yet filed to dismiss Morgan’s suit.
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Landers Center DeSoto County Convention and Visitors Bureau DeSoto County Board of Supervisors Todd Mastry Subscriber OnlyThank you for reading The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.
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Aarron Fleming
Once an intern, he never left, joining the staff full-time in 2022 as an education reporter. He moved to public safety in 2023, where he covered some of the city’s biggest court cases, including the criminal trials for those charged in the deaths of Tyré Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also chronicled the Shelby County Jail and the deaths that have occurred at the facility.
He now provides suburban coverage, focusing on DeSoto County and the surrounding municipalities.
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