City Sued Over Flightline Restaurant
Airport Admins Accused of Blocking Transfer of Restaurant Lease from the High Sierra Grill Attorney
Attorney A. Barry Cappello filed a lawsuit against City Hall charging that airport administrators unreasonably blocked the transfer of the restaurant lease from the High Sierra Grill—located on airport property — to Warren Butler, owner of the flight-themed Flightline Restaurant, who took over restaurant operations from High Sierra. Cappello charged airport administrators negotiated in bad faith with Butler, stringing him along while making bogus allegations about lease defaults, until he was forced to pull the plug on his restaurant.
Cappello, who enjoys the reputation as fearsome litigator, claims the city’s “unreasonable interference” in allowing the lease transfer to take place cost High Sierra Grill $1 million and Butler more than $5 million. He is demanding a jury trial and punitive damages as well.
Last time Cappello tangled with City Hall—over district elections—he wound up getting $800,000 in attorneys’ fees. Calls to city airport administrators were not returned by press time.
