CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- One of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit concerning Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue is not able to stay as a part of the suit.

On Friday, the judge denied a request to substitute that had been filed by the Ratcliffe Foundation.

Such a motion would replace an existing party on a case with another.

The reason this was filed was because the original Ratcliffe Foundation lost its corporate status in 2015, when it was terminated by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

The Trevillian Station Battlefield Foundation, Inc. v. City of Charlottesville lawsuit was filed in 2021, and a new corporation with the name the Ratcliffe Foundation wasn’t formed until 2022.

Forming the new corporation was an attempt to get around the legal obstacle created by the SCC’s action in 2015, but this ruling prevents the new Ratcliffe Foundation from joining the lawsuit.

This suit was filed after the city opted to give the Lee statue to the Jefferson African American Heritage Center, which announced plans to melt it down and create a new piece of art through the Swords into Plowshares project.

The next court hearing, in this case, is scheduled for June 27.