The long-standing criminal case against Epicurean owner Chang Wook Chon reached a conclusion on April 29 during a hearing in which District Judge Robert L. Wilkins of the U.S. Attorney’s Office decided that plaintiff Marvin Hercules should have the opportunity to prove that he is entitled to the money owed to him from a separate civil case filed against Chon on May 2011.

Even though the group of over 20 workers who had also filed lawsuits in the civil case against Chon received their due money, the payment owed in unpaid overtime wages to Hercules was interrupted by a criminal case in which Chon persuaded the involved plaintiff not to go to court, and to which Chon pleaded guilty in March.

During the hearing held this April, Judge Wilkins found that “there’s clear and convincing evidence of misconduct by defendant Chon. And the Court finds that that misconduct prevented Mr. Hercules from fully and fairly presenting his case.”

The judge’s decision to grant Hercules an opportunity to re-file the original civil case in order to get his due payment came in response to a claim made by Chon and his attorney Barry Coburn. They said Hercules should not have the right to refile his original civil case after the conclusion of the criminal case, but Wilkins denied the request.

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Epicurean and Company is being sued for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and DC Minimum Wage Act. The lawsuit was filed on July 30 by three plaintiffs who worked overtime on several occasions without adequate compensation. Both branches of Epicurean, Vigor Restaurant and RC CT Avenue Restaurant located at 1225 19th Street NW, as well as the owner and operator Chang Wook Chon, are included in the complaint as “Defendants.” Chon is allegedly responsible for hiring and payment practices for all Epicurean establishments.

According to the Civilian Complaint, the three plaintiffs worked over 40 hours per week without the appropriate FLSA-approved pay rate. The FLSA states that any employee working over 40 hours in a week must be paid “one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.” The complaint also states that one of the plaintiffs, Carmen Yesenia Mejia, reportedly worked “in excess of 40 hours” and “Defendants generally failed to pay her at all.”

The attorneys for the plaintiffs are James & Hoffman, a law firm focusing on labor and employment disputes, and Laura Brown, the Legal Services Director for the D.C. Employment Justice Center who also works at UNITE HERE Local 25, the hotel and restaurant employees’ union in D.C. UNITE HERE is the union for Leo’s Armark workers on campus.

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Looks like Mr. Smith’s might keep its reputation as “the friendliest saloon in town.” According to a document filed last Tuesday in D.C. District Court, Georgetown student Taylor Price (MSB ’10) withdrew his discrimination lawsuit against the restaurant, seemingly because Mr. Smith’s made a donation to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

“In the end, I think both sides were happy,” Price said. Price, who has been paraplegic since a 2004 diving injury,  sued Mr. Smith’s in September for a violation of the American with Disabilities Act. Price’s lawsuit alleged that on January 23, 2009, a manager at Mr. Smith’s had not allowed him to enter the back of the restaurant because the manager said Price’s wheelchair was a fire hazard.

Price said the terms of the settlement with Mr. Smith’s are confidential, but he insists he did not personally receive money. A joint statement from Price and Mr. Smith’s suggests that Mr. Smith’s did lose some money, just not to Price.

The statement trumpets Mr. Smith’s donations to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, perhaps a nod to how Mr. Smith’s managed to resolve the lawsuit. For his part, Price says in the statement that Mr. Smith’s is welcoming towards people with disabilities.

After the jump, the court document and the joint statement

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Georgetown student Taylor Price is suing M Street bar Mr. Smith’s for discrimination, according to ABC 7 News.

Price, who has been in a wheelchair for five years after a swimming accident, claims he was discriminated against when he was at the bar with some friends on January 23, 2009.

According to ABC 7 News:

“I was told by the manager that the bar was too crowded and that I was a fire hazard and I was not allowed to go to the back of the bar,” [Price] said. “I just could not believe that someone would say that to me. All I wanted to do is enjoy the evening with my friends.”

And according to Price, that’s not all the manager said. “He pointed to the corner and told me that if I wished to remain at the bar that I would have to sit in the corner,” he said.

The manager of Mr. Smith’s had no comment on the lawsuit, according to ABC 7 News.

Last time we checked in on Georgetown’s proposed Contemplative Center, it had just gotten the kibosh from the Clarke County Board of Supervisors. Turns out the University’s not too happy about that decision—they’ve filed a civil complaint with the Clarke County Circuit Court alleging that the Board’s decision was “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” and asking the Court to issue an injunction requiring the Board of Supervisors to reconsider it.

Back in 2005, after receiving a $10 million donation from Arthur Calcagnini Jr. (COL ’54) to build a permanent home for retreat programs, Georgetown bought a plot of land in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Northern Virginia. Because the property is zoned as “Forestral Open Space,” Georgetown needs to secure a Special Use Permit in order to build the center—and that’s where we’ve run afoul of the Clarke County Board of Supervisors.

In a meeting this May, the board rejected Georgetown’s application for a Special Use Permit 3-2, arguing that it would “erode” the zoning code and invite too much residential development. After that setback, University Architect Alan Brangman told the Winchester Star, “If we can’t do it here, we will have to put it somewhere else.” But it looks like Georgetown’s not ready to call it quits on the Blue Ridge Mountain site just yet.

The complaint Georgetown recently filed with the Circuit Court—which you can read in full after the jump—alleges that the application it presented to the board “meets all applicable requirements for the issuance of a special use permit as set forth in the County’s Zoning Ordinance” and that “the Board has, and has asserted, no valid reasons” for denying the it.

According to the complaint:

The Center would have minimal impact on the surrounding community, and on public infrastructure and services …. Because of the Board’s denial, Georgetown cannot use the Property for its intended purpose, and consequently must incur additional and significant expenses pursuing another location for its Center. Georgetown has also expended significant funds in pursuit of the Application which have effectively gone to waste because of the Board’s decision.

The University is arguing that the board’s “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” rejection of the application violates Virginia law.  The complaint requests that the court “issue a mandatory injunction requiring the Board to reconsider, and to grant, the special use permit and site plan.”

Georgetown’s Director of Media Relations Andy Pino wrote in an email that he does not know when the Circuit Court will hear the University’s complaint.

Read the full complaint after the jump!

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A still from the police car’s dashboard camera

Georgetown student Alexandra Torrens-Vilas is suing police in Hollywood, Fla. after they allegedly faked a police report about an accident involving her and a police officer, according to the Associated Press.

When she pulled over to the side of the road while driving home from a party in February, officer Joel Francisco allegedly rear-ended her car. The AP reports that Vilas admitted to having a few beers at the party, and police officers slapped her with a DUI and accused her of causing the crash.

Things were looking pretty bad for Vilas—she was facing four counts of drunken driving and cited for an improper lane change—until last week when her attorneys obtained video from the dashboard cam of the officer’s car.

The footage shows officer Dewey Pressley faking the police report to protect his partner and foist the blame on Vilas, calling his cover-up “a little Walt Disney.” Turns out Francisco, the officer driving the car, has been involved in seven accidents since 2000, according to personnel records. Although Vilas’ blood alcohol content was reported to be twice the legal limit, the breathalyzer test was administered and recorded by Pressley, and thus is also under question.

Since the tapes were released, all the charges against Vilas have been dropped, five members of the police force involved in the case have been suspended. The case forced her to take time off from Georgetown (she was studying international economics) and she now plans to file a civil suit against the police, according to an interview with the Today Show.

Georgetown filed a lawsuit yesterday in D.C. District Court against Dr. James M. Wilson and Mark G. Polyak over rights to a biosurveillance system that they developed with funding from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense while working at the University.

Wilson and Polyak left Georgetown in March and April of 2008, respectively. Since then, the University says it has been requesting that they transfer their patent rights to the system they created, Argus, with no luck. Now the University is suing to obtain rights to the program.

But what is Argus? According to testimony (PDF) Wilson gave to Congress in 2007, Argus is a program that monitors events related to health emergencies and alerts policymakers. It was created in response to the rise of diseases like avian flu and SARS.

In 2007, the Department of Defense funded the program with $5,200,281, according to a report that tracks federal grant money. The CIA gave $7,279,780 for research on Argus in 2008, according to 2008 version of the same report.

In the lawsuit, Georgetown argues that the University’s intellectual property policy means any work created while employed by Georgetown belongs to the University.

Congressional testimony Wilson gave in 2008 [PDF] might hint at what his and Polyak’s defense will be, if they decide to fight Georgetown’s lawsuit (emphasis added):

While at Georgetown University (we were housed at GU for convenience with little interaction with the rest of campus and no independent support from the University)

Wilson seems to be sayng the project didn’t have any help from Georgetown, besides the use of Georgetown facilities.

Check out the lawsuit Georgetown filed after the jump!

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