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Chester eatery sues, claims secrets stolen
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - October 20, 2010)
Chester eatery sues, claims secrets stolen
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
A Chester Township restaurant has filed suit against a competitor in Mayfield Village competitor, claiming that trade secrets were stolen for use in a new dining establishment.
The civil suit was filed Oct. 12 in Geauga County Commons Pleas Court by Albino Enterprises Inc., which does business as Guido's Restaurant and Pizzeria on Chillicothe Road (Route 306). The suit names Thomas W. Vlah and his restaurant, Tommy V's Pastaria, on Wilson Mills Road, as defendants.
According to the suit, Mr. Vlah was a longtime employee of Guido's, during which time he acquired knowledge of recipes and business practices, which then were used to set up the competing restaurant. The suit seeks a permanent injunction to halt "competing directly against plaintiff by using plaintiff's unique food products, processes and other business practices."
Mr. Vlah said last week that the suit has no merit. "He thinks I opened a restaurant using his recipes, but I didn't," he said.
Mr. Vlah said he was fired from Guido's about 1 1/2 years ago, because the owners would not pay him overtime. He said the lawsuit stems from the bad blood.
According to the lawsuit, the Albino family has operated a "very unique Italian restaurant" in Chester for 49 years. "This restaurant, which has been operated by three generations of the Albino family, has a dedicated clientele, has received much positive media coverage and has received numerous awards," according to the suit.
The lawsuit says the restaurant is known for its "unique taste, texture and presentation of its food products which are widely known as well kept family secrets." It says, "These unique recipes include, but are not limited to, Guido's spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce, pizza sauce, alfredo sauce, sausage, meatballs, salad dressings and filling for egg plant rollups."
The suit claims that, during Mr. Vlah's employment, he became familiar with the operation, including the secret family recipes. "As a result of his long-term employment, the defendant Vlah became aware of ingredients in certain foods and sauces, food preparation, cooking techniques, specific suppliers, menu's, marketing procedures and other unique business practices," the suit says.
"These ingredients, products and unique business practices were kept as secret family recipes to the point that only family members could create said products and utilize said business practices." No recipes were written down, in an effort to protect the secrecy, the suit claims, but Mr. Vlah became aware of the secrets by watching family members prepare foods.
The suit says Guido's menu was copied, including its layout, offerings and the precise ingredients and their listing order. Even an error in Guido's menu was copied, it says.
"Tommy V's has hired at least three former employees of Guido's in an attempt to siphon business from Guido's and to ensure the complete copying of the secret ingredients and formulas which are distinctly Guido's," the suit claims.
The Albino family says in the suit that they took every precaution to protect their family secrets of the business. "This business model, products and unique business practices are, and at all times, have been the subject of efforts that reasonable under the circumstances to maintain their secrecy, including, but not limited to, restricting the preparation of food products to family members, refraining from disclosing said recipes and formulas to anyone outside of the family, refusing to disclose said recipes to third parties, preparing 90 percent of the food products during closed hours, and otherwise generally maintaining the secrecy of the recipes, formulas and food preparation techniques at issue," the suit says.
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