Legal Troubles Vex Vandelay CEO Hunter Pond
Legal battles are on the “menu” for Vandelay Hospitality Group CEO Hunter Pond.
Vandelay Hospitality Group operates Hudson House, Drake’s, D.L. Mack’s, East Hampton Sandwich Co., and more.
In late January, Pond made headlines when a warrant was issued in San Miguel County, Colorado, for him on misdemeanor complaints of harassment and disorderly conduct.
The Colorado warrant for Pond is based on an October 2022 incident in which he allegedly spat on a woman’s face, threatened to pull her out of a car, and yelled expletives at her outside a hotel, according to an affidavit and application for an arrest warrant filed in a Colorado district court.
Before the affidavit was released, Pond sued the woman, alleging he was assaulted during the incident.
Both Pond’s lawsuit and the affidavit describe Pond and his family as walking on Mountain Village Boulevard during the evening hours of Oct. 15 when the woman drove close to the family walking in the roadway and swerved to avoid them. Both said the road had no sidewalk.
The woman told police, though, that she rolled down her window and told the people in the roadway that they “shouldn’t walk in the middle of the road” before continuing on to pick up her husband at a hotel, where Pond approached her again, per the affidavit.
The woman said Pond banged on her window, she rolled it down, and Pond began yelling expletives at her and, at one point, threatened to pull her out of the car, the affidavit states.
The woman said Pond spat in her face before another man grabbed him and walked him away, according to the affidavit.
Pond’s attorney denied the allegations.
“We stand by our previous statement and vehemently deny the allegations made in the affidavit. Mr. Pond is looking forward to his day in court to clear his name and to tell his side of the story,” Pond’s attorney Jason Friedman said.
At the same time, Vandelay faces a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in a California federal court after the recent opening of its Hudson House concept in the Los Angeles area near a pre-existing, unrelated restaurant with the same name.
Hudson House Redondo Beach alleges in the lawsuit that Vandelay was aware that the name was in use before opening its restaurant in the Los Angeles area.
Hudson House Redondo Beach was founded by Brooke Williamson of Top Chef fame and Nick Roberts in 2008, and Vandelay opened its first Hudson House in the Dallas area around 2017, the lawsuit states. Hudson House Redondo Beach is at 514 N. Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach, and Vandelay’s Los Angeles-area location is at 9255 Sunset Blvd.
Vandelay may also go to trial later this year in lawsuits filed in 2021 by former employees who say they were encouraged to discriminate against customers and employees of color or those who weren’t considered attractive and fired for failing to comply. Vandelay has denied those claims in local media.
