Trainer’s Inn insurance dispute goes to court

An insurance dispute between the owners of a Franklin Township restaurant that burned down in 2018 and the company that had been set to close on the property continued to play itself out Thursday morning in Carbon County Court.

Lawyers representing Richard and Priscilla Denithorne, who have owned the Trainer’s Inn property on Interchange Road since 1992, and Matthew 2535 Properties, who had agreed to purchase it before the fire, appeared before Common Pleas Judge Steven Serfass for arguments on a summary judgment motion.

Trainer’s Inn closed in February 2017, and later that year, Richard and Priscilla were approached by Thomas Romanchik and Catherine Jaindl about purchasing the property. Jaindl formed a company named Matthew 2535 Properties and signed a contract to buy the property for $400,000. The restaurant caught fire and was destroyed on March 17, 2018, a month and a half before closing was to take place.

Matthew Properties filed a lawsuit arguing breach of contract and a count of specific performance, hoping to have the court require the Denithornes to transfer the property to them and give them the insurance proceeds, which was stated Thursday to be $800,000.

Lindsey Cook, attorney for the Denithornes, said Richard and Priscilla, who are named as defendants in the lawsuit, did not carry the insurance on the property. That, she said, was handled by their three sons, who ran the restaurant and formed an independent company, Denithorne Brothers Inc.

Cook also said the parties agreed that in the event of a loss, Mr. and Mrs. Denithorne and Matthew Properties would work together to remediate the property, provided there was no added cost to Richard and Priscilla.

“Matthew is now seeking for the Denithornes to fund a new restaurant on the property, while Matthew still desires to pay just $400,000 for the property,” Cook argued. “This is not a request for remediation, it is a request for a windfall. This court should refuse to exercise its discretion to order an injustice.”

The Denithornes, she said, received an offer of $375,000 for the property, even without the building on it.

In representing Matthew Properties, attorney Leo DeVito said the breach of contract on the part of Richard and Priscilla Denithorne is very clear. He disputed Cook’s argument that only the sons, and not Richard or Priscilla, benefited from the insurance money.

“They have never agreed to sit down and talk about any kind of remediation beyond the fire,” DeVito said. “Richard Denithorne, right after the property closed, paid the insurance premium on the property. Both he and one of the sons believed the insurance on the structure was for the benefit of the owners of the property.”

DeVito referenced the deposition of Richard and Priscilla’s son David, arguing that is well-known he didn’t approve of the property’s sale.

“He has clearly said he despised my client,” DeVito said. “In his deposition, he said he didn’t want his parents to sell it to them because he didn’t trust Romanchik, a Matthew Properties representative. He is fighting the hardest to hold onto the insurance money.”

A fire marshal listed the cause of the Trainer’s Inn blaze as undetermined, and Cook took issue Thursday with what she called a conspiracy theory that one of the sons may have intentionally caused the fire.

“There is just no evidence of that theory whatsoever,” Cook said. “In fact, it’s our position that the fire was likely caused by a contractor hired by the buyer.”

Serfass said he would take both arguments under advisement while deciding whether or not to grant Cook’s motion for summary judgment. The matter had been scheduled for a nonjury trial on March 6. With this matter pending, however, it will not take place at that time.