A business dispute between Thibodaux-based Rouses Supermarkets and a south Louisiana burrito restaurant chain took a strange turn Thursday.
Izzo’s Illegal Burrito filed an affidavit in its federal racketeering case against Rouses in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge. The sworn statement is from a former Izzo’s employee who claims he stole Izzo’s recipe book and was hired as a deli manager for Rouses so he could use the book to set up a “Build-Your-Own” burrito bar based on Izzo’s “Roll-Your-Own” model.
The former employee, Patrick Dartez, says he stole the book in 2011, cut out the Izzo’s logo from the pages and brought it to the Rouse’s in Lafayette, where he used it to teach other employees how to prepare burritos and other foods.
Rouses has not yet responded to the merits of Dartez’s allegations, but it’s seeking to dismiss the claim based on it being too old under the federal statute of limitations.
Rouses’ attorney, Molly Wells, said the company does not comment on pending litigation, but a motion to dismiss the case last month called the claims “trumped up.”
The court has already dismissed several of Izzo’s other claims against Rouses, which allege unfair trade practices, defamation and a conspiracy with developers to keep Izzo’s out of shopping centers where Rouses has stores.
Izzo’s appealed that decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which said last month that all the claims must be decided before Izzo’s can appeal the ones that were dismissed.