Trill Burgers can stay open but must restrict assets as legal battle between co-founders unfolds, Houston judge rules – Houston Public Media

As Trill Burgers approaches its first anniversary as a brick-and-mortar restaurant, having established itself as one of the most popular purveyors of smashburgers in Houston, its founders remain locked in a bitter legal battle.

A Harris County judge last month issued a temporary injunction against the company, its related entities and its co-owners Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, Andy Nguyen and Nick Scurfield, ordering them to restrict certain company assets and refrain from making any payment. to themselves or transfer equity or ownership in the business. The order was issued at the request of co-founders Benson and Patsy Vivares, two siblings who were sued by Trill Burgers last year for allegedly embezzling funds and who later claimed the other executives misappropriated assets and attempted to sell their stake.

Judge Tamika Craft-Demming’s ruling means Trill Burgers can continue operating as usual at 3607 S. Shepherd Dr. — where the restaurant announced Monday it would give away 607 free burgers Friday to celebrate its anniversary — while the trial is being played out. The company can also continue paying its staff, overhead and owner, even though the $5,000 monthly salaries earned by Freeman, Nguyen and Scurfield have been suspended, according to attorneys involved in the case.

“We didn’t want them to close the business. We don’t want people to no longer be able to eat Trill Burgers,” Saad Aziz, attorney for the Vivares siblings, said Monday. “We want Houston to have Trill Burgers. That’s the product that Patsy and (Benson) made.”

Lawyers for Nguyen, Scurfield and Freeman, the Houston rapper known as Bun B who has been the face of the company, said Monday they plan to appeal the May 24 temporary restraining order. , which orders the creation of a constructive trust to oversee Trill Burgers. assets while the case is litigated. Charles Adams, who represents Freeman and Nguyen, called the injunction “unique and unusual” and said it goes against Texas law.

Adams and Jourdain Poupore, an attorney representing Scurfield, also asked Craft-Demming to order arbitration in the case. This would take the dispute out of a civil court and put it in the hands of a private arbitrator.

The Vivares siblings were sued last August by the other co-founders, who accused them of stealing and embezzling at least $45,000 from the company as it held popups in 2022 and tried to gain a foothold on the market, according to court records. Aziz said the Vivares siblings agreed to leave the business in 2022, ahead of the physical restaurant opening in June 2023, but said his clients never signed the separation agreement they were given. present.

The Vivares siblings responded to the lawsuit by filing their own lawsuits against the other owners, claiming they continued to hold a stake and accusing the others of divesting themselves of their interests by creating new competing business entities, including a chicken tenders business. They also claim to have created the burger recipe that made Trill Burgers so successful.

In her May 24 order, Craft-Demming wrote that the Vivares siblings “are likely to succeed based on their claims.”

Both Adams and Poupore said the Vivares siblings reneged on their initial agreement to leave the business because Trill Burgers subsequently became successful. Poupore said there “is no money to fight in July 2022,” adding that Trill Burgers is now a multi-million dollar business.

“At this (injunction) hearing, Patsy and Benson’s position now is that they withdrew from operations, which is their obligation, but they intended to retain their ownership,” said Adams. “So that’s their argument now that their punishment for the missing money (in 2022) was that they didn’t have to work anymore, but they kept all the benefits, which doesn’t really make sense.”

Aziz said his customers’ ultimate goal is to be bought out by the other owners of Trill Burgers at a fair price, instead of being evicted without compensation.

In the meantime, the other owners of Trill Burgers plan to continue making smashburgers and selling them. They simply will not be allowed to compensate themselves, according to the temporary injunction.

“We have no plans to close our doors,” Poupore said.