(FORTUNE Magazine) – WICHITA, KANSAS -- Home state favorite Kelli McCarty . . . was crowned Miss USA 1991 in a pageant marred by lawsuits . . . The crowning of the new Miss USA ended the reign of Carole Gist of Detroit, who has filed an $18 million lawsuit against the pageant and its organizers . . . Miss Gist, the first black Miss USA, accuses the pageant and its officials in her lawsuit of discrimination, poor working conditions, and not delivering all the prizes promised her. Meanwhile, $10 million lawsuits on behalf of Miss USA 1989 Gretchen Polhemus and Miss USA 1988 Courtney Gibbs were filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit . . . Those lawsuits accuse Miss Universe Inc., a producer of the Miss USA pageant, of misrepresentation, fraud, unfair labor practices, and physical and mental abuse. -- From an AP dispatch.