Lincoln restaurant owner likely to appeal ruling

LINCOLN – The owner of a defunct Chinese restaurant who claims he was forced to close his business by town officials and his landlord likely will appeal a federal magistrate’s recommendation dismissing his bias lawsuit, attorney Kevin M. Cuddy of Bangor said Tuesday.

John Cheung likely will ask U.S. District Judge John Woodcock of Bangor to review the case but might not appeal the ruling to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, Cuddy said.

“I will be inviting my client in to discuss this within the next several days,” Cuddy said Tuesday. “I think it is probable that we will ask for a review by the District Court judge, but beyond that it’s difficult to say.”

In a 26-page ruling dated Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret J. Kravchuk recommended against Cheung, rejecting nine counts of claims that police, town officials and landlord James Wambolt used intimidation and also revoked valid business permits to his South Garden Chinese restaurant on West Broadway.

“I was surprised by the breadth of the court’s ruling,” Cuddy said. “I thought we had presented competent evidence on a number of different fronts or counts.”

As part of the federal court process, Kravchuk recommended a ruling to Woodcock, and the recommendation is implemented if it satisfies the parties involved. If not, Woodcock can review the decision, and his ruling can be appealed to the 1st Circuit Court.

“An appeal [to the 1st Circuit] is premature because the next step is for the District Court judge to adopt the decision or reject it,” Cuddy said.

In his lawsuit, Cheung, an American citizen of Chinese descent, claimed that the Town Council discriminated against him and his business by revoking his amusement permit in October 2002 at the urging of the Wambolt family, then reinstated it in March 2003, according to Kravchuk’s ruling.

Cheung also claimed that the Wambolts conspired to restrict his business by placing sawhorses in front of the restaurant. The Wambolts said the obstructions created a fire lane to his business but removed the sawhorses when threatened with legal action.

Police also posted special patrols near the Wambolts’ Briarwood Motel in an attempt to intimidate Cheung and his customers, Cheung claimed, and later withdrew the special details when the town manager ordered them halted.

Kravchuk rejected those claims, saying that Cheung failed to show that any of the actions against him were motivated by a racial bias.

Since the closing of his restaurant in July 2003, Cheung has worked as a cook at Oriental Jade Restaurant in Bangor and recently started a new job at another eatery in Connecticut, Cuddy said.

Cheung still is carrying a heavy debt that came from the closing of his Lincoln restaurant, Cuddy said.