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Judge issues default judgment against Duke’s restaurant owner
A federal judge on Thursday, March 25 issued a default judgment against the owner of Duke’s Restaurant in the nearly year-long court dispute between the West Carrollton eatery and the former owner of Dominic’s restaurant.
The full impact of the decision won’t be known until after May 20, when U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose conducts a hearing that will set damages in the case. Rose acknowledged in his ruling, however, that he “will not award monetary damages” against Duke’s owner Reece Powers III, because Powers has filed for personal bankruptcy.
Duke’s, at 630 E. Dixie Drive at Alex Road, remains open for business. Although Powers’ attorney in the federal lawsuit, Steven Coffaro of Cincinnati, could not be reached Thursday, John J. Scaccia, Dayton attorney who is representing Powers on bankruptcy matters, said late Thursday he is optimistic the restaurant will continue to operate after the May 20 hearing because he believes former Dominic’s owner Anne B. Mantia, who filed the lawsuit, won’t be able to show Duke’s damaged the former restaurant or its name.
Mantia’s attorney — James Morris of Lexington Ky., who had asked the judge to issue the default judgment — said he “strongly disagreed” with Scaccia’s assessment. The judge “has determined that the defendants have lost,” Morris said, and the only issues are what monetary and non-monetary legal remedies will be assessed against Powers and his two co-defendants in the copyright-infringement and breach-of-contract lawsuit. The other defendants include Dominic’s chef Harry Lee, who later became chef at Duke’s; and Christie Mantia, who was a business partner with Powers in the initial stages of the Duke’s venture, but who left before the restaurant opened shortly after telling the Dayton Daily News in an interview that the restaurant would be serving the “original recipes” from Dominic’s.
Christie Mantia is the granddaughter of Dominic’s founder Dominic Mantia and once co-owned Dominic’s with her stepmother, Anne Mantia, until accepting a $460,000 buyout in 2005 to relinquish her ownership stake. The restaurant on South Main Street in Dayton was a mainstay of the Dayton dining scene for five decades before it closed in July 2007.
In his decision, Rose cited defendants’ “numerous instances of failure to follow this court’s orders” and failure to meet court-imposed deadlines. The judge previously had found Powers to be in civil contempt of court and twice ordered Duke’s to shut down over disputes regarding Duke’s menu.
Powers, reached at the restaurant late Thursday, said he had just received the judge’s decision and had not yet spoken to his attorneys, but added, “We’re just trying to run a restaurant. Where is the crime? What are we doing wrong?”
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