An Italian restaurant is suing its landlord, claiming he defamed it to a potential buyer.
Trattoria Trullo filed a lawsuit Aug. 4 in the Cook County Circuit Court Chancery Division against Louis Palivos and Chicago Title Land Trust Co., as successor trustee for a trust agreement dated March 29, 1993.
According to the complaint, Trattoria Trullo and Chicago Title Land Trust Co., through its agent Palivos, agreed to sell the restaurant, located on North Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Square, and split the proceeds.
They reached a preliminary agreement with 4767 Hospitality LLC for it to buy the restaurant for $280,000, but Hospitality later refused to buy it or negotiate because Palivos had falsely told the company that Trattoria was insolvent, the suit alleges.
Trattoria claims Palivos was made aware, in confidence, that it used some restaurant equipment still owned by a company previously operating on the premises called BGB LLC. The landlord allegedly purchased the equipment from BGB LLC, and then sold it to Hospitality.
The defendants are accused of breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference with business expectancy, defamation and unjust enrichment.
Trattoria Trullo is seeking its share of the sale proceeds and is being represented in the case by attorney Daniel A. Hawkins of Erwin & Associates LLC in Chicago.
Cook County Circuit Court Chancery Division Case No. 2014CH12661.
This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court Chancery Division. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.
Lincoln Square eatery lodges defamation, breach of contract suit against landlord
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