HOUSTON – Things are heating up and not in a good way for Houston legend Bun B and his partners at Trill Burgers as a legal chess match continues between former partners.
According to recent court documents obtained by KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding, former partners Benson and Patsy Vivares filed a temporary injunction in late May against Bun B, whose real name is Bernard Freeman, and partners with Trill Burgers.
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The legal battle revolves around the Vivares siblings accusing Bun B of stealing their recipe, while Trill Burgers’ co-owners countered by claiming funds were being misappropriated, leading to Vivares’ eventual exit.
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The temporary injunction is legal talk for the court ordering Trill Burgers to stop paying owners a management fee and ordering a reporting of expenditures of over $10,000. The court also ordered Trill Burgers to repay attorney’s fees and forbade entities and owners from hiring counsel. Violating this order would result in, the court documents claim, “irreparable injury to Trill Burgers, LLC.”
“The wrongdoing includes forming and operating competing businesses, misappropriation of corporate opportunities, misappropriation of assets, other breaches of fiduciary duties,” the lawsuit adds. “Anyone acting in concert with them or at their instruction...Trill Burgers, LLC will be irreparably injured, including by loss of customers, loss of assets, loss of goodwill, disruption and cessation of business operations, diminution in value, and lost profits which are difficult or incapable of being ascertained.”
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How is Bun B’s team reacting to all this? According to his attorney, Charles D. Adams, they’re not deterred from keeping things business as usual, saying to KPRC 2 digital producer Ahmed Humble in part:
“I do not believe the order will survive appellate scrutiny if there is ever any actual effort to post the bond, serve the required parties and have it enforced,” he said. “The plan moving forward: Trill Burgers will continue to serve the best hamburgers in Houston, Trill Burgers is still marching forward with its claims against the Vivares, Trill Burgers will seek appropriate relief from the Court of Appeals when necessary, and the ownership team of Trill Burgers is still looking forward to their day before a trier of fact, whether it be an arbitrator or a jury, to further expose the simple truths of this dispute and obtain an award of the appropriate compensation for the alleged bad acts of their former colleagues Patsy and Benson Vivares.”
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Adams also shared an audio recording with KPRC 2 of a voicemail played in court dating from Dec. 2022 where Patsy Vivares asks for documented proof to show she and her brother were no longer part of the company.
“Hi, my name is Patsy Vivares, we worked with ya’ll [sic] with Sticky’s Chicken in Houston and also with Trill Burgers in Houston and I was calling because right now I was wondering if I could get a copy of the new business formation because the Comptroller is still tying my brother and I to Trill Burgers for state taxes and I need a new copy of the formation to show proof to them that we’re no longer a part of that.”
Here is Adams’ full statement breaking down the lawsuit:
“The temporary injunction hearing provided sworn testimony from both sides of this dispute that I believe fully supported my clients’ positions on the agreed dissolution of the original partnership and the alleged misappropriation of funds by Patsy Vivares. Patsy and Benson Vivares completely failed to provide testimony that supported Patsy Vivares’ prior sworn statements accusing Mr. Freeman of being a thief and sworn bigoted suggestion he was tied to an unknown criminal underworld. Patsy Vivares failed to explain her handling of tens of thousands of missing funds.
“The Vivares’ also absurdly testified that they agreed to leave but only meant that they were leaving their obligations to run the restaurant but intended to retain their ownership interest. Despite this, Judge Craft-Demming signed a temporary injunction order filed by the Vivares’ counsel that uniquely appears to prohibit existing parties, parties served on the last day of the hearing without proper notice of said hearing, and non-parties from hiring counsel and greatly restricts their ability to operate their respective businesses.
“The order also seems to order non-party attorneys hired by Trill Burgers and its owners to repay attorneys fees and costs in direct contravention of Texas law, the Texas Constitution and the Constitution of these United States. After the unusually drafted order was signed by the court, the Vivares’ attorneys immediately sent a list of demands to myself, Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Poupore threatening to ask the court to hold us, as the attorneys for Trill Burgers and its owners, in contempt if we do not comply with the order because they, apparently, do not to grasp that we are not parties to this dispute.
“I do not believe the order will survive appellate scrutiny if there is ever any actual effort to post the bond, serve the required parties and have it enforced. The plan moving forward: Trill Burgers will continue to serve the best hamburgers in Houston, Trill Burgers is still marching forward with its claims against the Vivares, Trill Burgers will seek appropriate relief from the Court of Appeals when necessary, and the ownership team of Trill Burgers is still looking forward to their day before a trier of fact, whether it be an arbitrator or a jury, to further expose the simple truths of this dispute and obtain an award of the appropriate compensation for the alleged bad acts of their former colleagues Patsy and Benson Vivares.”