Tipp City restaurant lawsuit: Son denies he broke promise to mom

her paycheck was not related to the transfer of stock and ownership of the restaurant to her son.

Hoover also says his mother essentially walked out on her job in March 2014 “and never returned to work.”

After a “lengthy absence,” the lawsuit response says, Hoover determined that his mother “had abandoned her employment, and as a result, (he) terminated her employment and bi-weekly payroll payments.”

Hoover’s legal filing represents the first time his side of the mother-versus-son dispute has been heard. Hoover declined comment last month when his mother’s initial lawsuit against him was filed.

Peachey’s attorney, Craig Matthews of Centerville, told this news outlet in response to Hoover’s answer to the lawsuit:

“The evidence will show Betty loved working at the cafe — it was her baby. She left only because he told her to. And he paid her retirement as he had promised until other financial commitments become more important than a son’s promise to his mother. Who pays ‘salary’ to an employee who ‘abandoned’ their job?”

Troy attorney Glen McMurry — who, along with co-counsel Michael Rice, represents Hoover and filed the answer to the lawsuit on the chef-owner’s behalf — said he would not comment on the pending litigation, but added, “Coldwater Cafe and Mr. Hoover are confident that this matter will be resolved in accordance with the law and the parties’ contracts.”

Coldwater Cafe has been a popular full-service dining destination for several years. Earlier this year, the Tipp City restaurant was included in the online-reservations website OpenTable. com’s 2017 list of the “100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America.”

Peachey founded Coldwater Cafe in 1994, and said in her lawsuit that she originally hired her son to work in Coldwater Cafe’s kitchen, then sent him to culinary school in California to groom him to take over as executive chef at the restaurant.

By 2002, according to Peachey’s lawsuit, mother and son had entered into two written agreements — a buy-sell agreement followed by an option-to-purchase agreement — and over the next seven years, Hoover purchased half of Peachey’s shares in Coldwater Cafe, although Peachey “did not sell any of her voting shares and maintained full and complete control” of the restaurant, the lawsuit says.

As part of Hoover’s response to the lawsuit, his attorneys attached as exhibits multiple ledgers showing the transfer of stock and shares from mother to son spanning nearly a decade, from 2002 to 2011.

Her lawsuit says that by 2011, Peachey was 61 and eyeing retirement. She agreed to transfer full ownership to Hoover in exchange for “Hoover’s promise to pay Peachey a retirement of $40,000 per year for the remainder of her life,” the lawsuit says. Peachey maintained a presence in the restaurant, “greeting customers and helping decorate.”

In March 2014, however, Hoover, “to the shock and dismay of Peachey, told his mother he no longer wanted her to be at the restaurant,” her lawsuit says. But she continued receiving payments until August 2015, when Hoover informed his mother that he was stopping the payments.

“Peachey would not have allowed Hoover to acquire ownership and control of Coldwater (Cafe) had she known he would break his promise to her,” the lawsuit says.

Peachey seeks compensatory and punitive damages as well as court costs and attorneys’ fees. The case is pending before Miami County Common Pleas Judge Jeannine Pratt.