YULEE, Fla. – A lawsuit has been filed against the owners of a restaurant in Yulee after they “temporarily closed” its doors.
Dozens of employees from Añejo Yulee and the Salsas on Blanding were unsure what their future holds.
The restaurants' Facebook pages each had a post indicating the closures were temporary. But when the majority owners came and changed the locks, employees said they weren’t sure.
“I’m applying for other jobs at the moment if they open back up, I’d come back,” Haley Simmons, a former host, said. “I don’t know if that’s gonna happen.”
The minority owner, Melandy Higdon, filed a lawsuit in Nassau County court making several allegations but asked the court to allow her to reopen the restaurants without interruption from the majority owner.
Read the full lawsuit below.
The complaint highlighted an ongoing back-and-forth between the majority and minority owners of the Mexican Restaurants in Northeast Florida.
Court documents claimed the majority owners, Jesus and Blanca Valencia, “took unilateral steps – against the demands of its minority shareholder – to shut down both of these successful and profitable restaurants.”
A statement from the majority owners said that they asked Higdon to step down from her role and when she didn’t they “had no choice but to lock the doors to regain control of our business.”
Read the full statement below.
On Dec. 3 we had to make the painful decision to temporarily lock the doors of two of our restaurants in Blanding and Yulee. This was the direct result of infructuous negotiations with Melandy Higdon, a minority partner we had asked to step down from her executive duties at these two locations. She refused numerous times and was informed in writing, more than once, that her refusal would result in the temporary closing of the restaurants to relieve her from her duties, and for Mr. Valencia as President of the company and majority owner to regain control of the operations and restructure them for success.
Once the decision was made to close temporarily, Mrs. Higdon was notified in writing more than once over the span of four weeks and was specifically asked to notify the employees under her. She refused to do so. We had no choice but to lock the doors to regain control of our business.
The closing is temporary. Both stores will reopen next week. All employees in good standing are being invited back to their jobs. We have sent an informative email (attached) to them and held a meeting today with many of them. As of now, all the employees we’ve reached are happy to return to work.
We are very sorry about the disruption this caused in our employees’ lives and have expressed this sentiment to them. They deserve better. We are now moving on to restructure our management team in the affected stores to improve operations, as well as communication with our staff and the community that has kindly supported us throughout the years.
Jesus and Blanca Valencia, Owners of Salsas' Restaurant and Añejo Restaurant
But Higdon’s attorneys said their client was trying to buy the majority stake and that their move to close was to pressure a better deal.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Higdon said:
For the past several years, Melandy Higdon has successfully operated both Salsas Cocina Mexicana & Cantina and Anejo Cocina Mexicana in Northeast Florida to the delight of patrons, providing a wonderful place of employment for many dedicated and hardworking staff.
Unfortunately, the majority shareholders have schemed to engage in a plan of disloyalty and sabotage to enrich themselves. This corporate greed ultimately hurts the hardworking staff and their families and deprives its patrons of a favorite mainstay in the communities they operate.
Jesus and Blanca Valencia’s actions will be dealt with in a court of law so that justice can be served, and Ms. Higdon and her dedicated team can return to serving the patrons who love the food and service they received at both restaurants. Thanks to Ms. Higdon’s tireless efforts, both restaurants have been successful, and there is no legitimate business reason for closings,” said a spokesperson for Ms. Higdon.
A spokesperson for Higdon
That lawsuit asked for the court to allow Higdon to reopen the restaurants and have the majority owners pay for any relief the court deems fit.
But the majority owners said they plan to restructure the management team and reopen next week with “employees in good standing.”
News4JAX is told several employees we spoke with were not looped into those reopening conversations.
Añejo Yulee posted that they are hiring.
News4JAX asked for a reopening date, but we have not received an answer yet.