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Duke’s court-ordered closing will hit employees, community
Frustrated employees and neighbors of Duke’s Restaurant said Tuesday, March 30, that U.S. District Court Judge Thomas M. Rose’s decision Monday to close down the restaurant as part of a civil lawsuit will harm workers and leave a void in a struggling city.
The restaurant at 630 E. Dixie Drive stopped serving and recorded a voicemail greeting on its phone Tuesday saying: “Unfortunately, once again Judge Rose has closed our restaurant. We are aggressively seeking a remedy through the courts to stay this terrible decision. We hope to be open as soon as possible.”
The closing leaves Duke’s server Angie Weikert and her 20-plus fellow workers out of a job at a crucial time as the Dayton area’s economy struggles to recover from a deep recession.
“We were just getting on our feet again,” said the 23-year-old married mother of two children, ages 2 and 1, whose husband was laid off last September but recently found a new job. She’ll start searching for new employment right away, she said, “but it’s very hard to find a job right now, especially in this area.”
Autumn Riffle, a 52-year-old West Carrollton resident, said she does not know Duke’s owner Reece Powers or former Dominic’s restaurant owner Anne B. Mantia, who has won her lawsuit against Powers and two other defendants.
“But I know Duke’s was doing good things for the city of West Carrollton,” Riffle said. “Three restaurants tried and failed in that building that Duke’s is in, and the building sat empty for a long time,” Riffle said. “It’s a shame this has to happen in a small town that has struggled like West Carrollton has.”
Duke’s employed single parents, laid-off General Motors workers, teenagers and senior citizens, Riffle said, “and now they’ll all hit the unemployment lines, which are as long as kingdom come.”
John Scaccia, a Springboro attorney who is representing Powers in the restaurant owner’s personal bankruptcy-related matters, said he is exploring Powers’ options in challenging the outcome of the trademark-infringement and breach-of-contract lawsuit, in which the judge last week issued a default judgment in favor of Mantia. A hearing scheduled for May 20 will determine what damages Mantia will be awarded.
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