The owner of a Portland, OR restaurant forced to shut down after smell complaints announced his intentions to sue the city.
Eddie Dong of Pho Gabo shut down his restaurant after receiving thousands of dollars in fine.
KGW reports his lawsuit alleges both civil rights violations and asks for both “economic and non-economic damages.”
“Mr. Dong has suffered both economic damage resulting from monetary losses due to the closure of his business, and non-economic damage resulting from reputational harm, fear, humiliation, embarrassment, emotional distress, and loss of his community that he built as a Vietnamese restaurant in the Portland community,” his attorney said in a court filing.
Attorney Jill Parrish told KOIN6 News says a lawsuit isn’t a certainty, but vowed to file one if the city didn’t make her client whole. She says her firm can’t find any evidence that the city has ever enforced the smell ordinance against any restaurant besides Dong.
Before Dong can reopen, the city is demanding he pay the fine and purchase a $40,000 filtration system.
“Frankly, what happened to him wasn’t fair.”
The city declined to comment other than to confirm it had received the claim from Dong’s attorney.
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