The plaintiffs in a Florida federal court battle over the ownership of the Miss America pageant have pushed back against a sanctions bid against their attorneys, saying the court should reject it because it's "wholly meritless."

Plaintiff Robin Fleming filed an opposition Monday in her case against defendants Glenn F. Straub, a real estate developer; Palm Beach Polo Inc. and its comptroller Kathleen A. Fialco; and attorney Craig T. Galle. She accused the defendants of having a pattern of filing "frivolous or bad-faith" motions.

Fleming and the Miss America entities filed a $500 million racketeering suit in November 2024, accusing Straub of fraudulently pushing the organization into bankruptcy in an effort to take over its assets.

The plaintiffs filed a motion for sanctions in September, accusing Straub and his current and past attorneys of submitting fake contracts as evidence of their ownership of the company that runs the pageant.

The defendants hit back in a response arguing the plaintiffs are actually the ones who are "engaging in fraud." They said the first sanctions motion was "recklessly filed," and it "wrongfully" accused Straub and Galle "of perpetuating a fraud against plaintiffs and this court."

Last month, the defendants returned fire with their own motion for sanctions, largely citing documents they say prove Straub is the owner of the Miss America entities.

"Although the majority of Fleming and plaintiffs' counsel's filings are unnecessarily verbose and suggest complex issues, the central issue of this case upon which all of plaintiffs' claims revolve is very straightforward: Who owns the Miss America companies and their assets?" the defendants said in their motion to dismiss motion.

Fleming's argument Monday centered around Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11, which justifies sanctions when a party filed a pleading that has no reasonable factual basis. Sanctions can also be given when a party filed a pleading that is based on a legal theory unlikely to succeed or in bad faith for an improper purpose, according to the response.

Fleming said the defendants' motion fails to establish that she did any of those three things.

For example, Fleming said the defendants have not established that she has no reasonable factual basis for her ownership claims and that they allege that there is no genuine dispute of material fact regarding ownership.

However, each of the transaction documents is signed by Fleming on behalf of the buyer entities and none are signed by Straub. Additionally, Fleming's name alone appears on the buyer entities' formation documents, she said.

Secondly, the defendants have not established an absence of a legal theory under which Fleming's ownership claims could "reasonably prevail." That's because depositions and discovery have not yet been completed, Fleming said.

"Defendants have presented no admissible evidence or argument to counter Ms. Flemings' legal theory of ownership … for the acquisition of [Miss American Organization] and its assets. Instead, defendants simply state there is no reasonable legal basis for her claims, without supporting the assertion with argument or admissible evidence," Fleming said.

Lastly, the defendants can't prove Fleming filed any pleading in bad faith or with an improper purpose, she added.

"Defendants present no argument or evidence to support a claim of improper purpose. Instead, defendants simply state that Ms. Fleming 'could not have a substantiated belief that the allegations … are well grounded in fact, are legally tenable, or are not interposed for an improper purpose,'" Fleming said.

Robin Fleming, Miss America IP Inc., Miss America's Scholarship Foundation Inc. and MAO IP Holding Co. LLC are represented by Gene Rossi, Justin L. Chretien and Bruce J. Berman of Carlton Fields, and Benjamin G. Chew, Camille M. Vasquez and Jessica N. Meyers of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.

Straub, Galle, Palm Beach Polo Inc. and Kathleen A. Fialco are represented by Todd A. Levine and Terri Ellen Tuchman Meyers of Kluger Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine PL.

The case is Fleming et al. v. Straub et al., case number 9:24-cv-81507, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.