A Korean restaurant that sat on the sidelines during a massive federal lawsuit brought by Capitol Hill developers and real estate owners around the CHOP protest zone has jumped into the legal fray after its owner said the city did not live up to promises to compensate the business for its losses.

11th Ave’s Oma Bap, part of the Hugo House mixed-use development across from the park, held a challenging position in the history of the 2020 protest zone with its location directly across from campers in Cal Anderson Park and near the corner a newly filed lawsuit calls “the epicenter of its public-sanitation support of CHOP” where city departments set up rows of chemical toilets and trash collection to try to keep the protest camps from adding to the public health crisis in the city as the COVID-19 virus spread.

In the new federal lawsuit, owner Peter Pak said, with the encouragement of city officials aware of the situation at Oma Bap, he filed a smaller claim in September 2020 “for a conservatively estimated $76,616” in damages from the city from the months of protests and disruptions around CHOP and the protests camps. According to the suit, City Hall countered with an offer of $500 — an amount Pak said left him “shocked and offended.”

Meanwhile, the group of developers and real estate owners led by property management and development firm Hunters Capital moved forward with its “deliberate indifference” lawsuit against the city. Oma Bap did not join that lawsuit and a judge rejected an effort to expand that suit to a class action that would have allowed the restaurant and other small businesses to jointly seek damages. That lawsuit was finally settled by the city in February for $3.6 million.

Pak and Oma Bap are now working with Morgan, Lewis and Bockius, the lawyers who steered the Hunters case to a successful outcome. The Seattle Times first reported the filing here. Oma Bap opened on 11th Ave in 2019. A 12th Ave location closed shortly after.

(Image: Oma Bap)

The Oma Bap lawsuit is nearly identical to the one that forced the city to settle after revelations of “spoliation of evidence” by city leaders including Mayor Jenny Durkan and Chief Carmen Best over proof of factory resets, 30-day auto deletions, and manual deletions that wiped away key evidence from that summer of 2020.

It it, the firm argues the city showed neglect and violated the rights of Pak and his business by allowing the protest zone to grow around the business.

“The streets and sidewalks directly adjacent to Oma Bap and in the nearby area were constantly impeded during CHOP—as well as on occasion during the subsequent occupation of Cal Anderson Park—by CHOP participants, subsequent park occupants, and the City itself,” the lawsuit reads. “CHOP participants regularly moved makeshift barriers, large objects, and barriers provided by the City to CHOP wherever they wished to block traffic, sidewalks, and all other manner of ingress and egress. This almost always included both Eleventh Avenue and Olive Street.”

The conditions meant Oma Bap’s employees, suppliers, and customers “could not safely access Plaintiff’s business or simply avoided the area entirely,” the suit says, and adds that a manager also quit due to the stress, food was often stolen, and that the building and restaurant suffered thousands of dollars in graffiti and vandalism during the initial CHOP protests and following months as groups continued to return to the area. “The portion of Cal Anderson Park near Oma Bap retained its reputation as the preferred occupation area of the park to set up residency for the remainder of 2020,” the lawyers write.

Oma Bap, which says its business recovery as a “fast casual” restaurant following the challenges of the early pandemic was knocked off track by the protest zone, is asking for damages “to be proven in trial.” It remains open in its 11th Ave space across from the park.

Meanwhile, other area businesses left out of the larger suit and still trying to recover from the challenges of 2020, could be watching.

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