Chicago Restaurant Sues Former Chef Over Abuse Allegations, $1.4 Million in Losses

The co-owners of Warlord, an Avondale restaurant once celebrated in Chicago's dining scene, filed a Cook County Circuit Court lawsuit on Feb. 19 alleging that their former chef and co-owner Trevor Fleming's abusive behavior toward employees cost the business an estimated $1.4 million in revenue and brought it "to the brink of ruin."

Emily Kraszyk and John Lupton filed the complaint the same day Block Club Chicago published an investigation detailing allegations that Fleming abused women with whom he worked and had relationships. The lawsuit accuses Fleming of breaching his fiduciary duties as an owner and managing member of Diamond Hands LLC, the company behind Warlord at 3198 N. Milwaukee Ave., by abusing employees and engaging in "criminal conduct that brought negative publicity" and steep financial damages to the restaurant and his business partners.

Kraszyk and Lupton are seeking an injunction to bar Fleming from accessing company accounts and from entering the restaurant property, as well as his removal from the business entirely. The filing warns the restaurant is at risk of insolvency, "jeopardizing the livelihoods of those who depend on Warlord."

At the center of the dispute is a governance structure that the plaintiffs argue leaves them powerless despite owning a combined two-thirds of the company. Each of the three co-owners holds a 33 percent equity stake in Diamond Hands LLC, but Fleming controls 51 percent of the voting rights while Kraszyk and Lupton hold 24.5 percent each. The pair argue that disparity is void and unenforceable under Illinois law, and that their combined 66 percent equity should give them majority control sufficient to expel Fleming from the business.

Fleming has not publicly addressed the lawsuit's specific financial claims. He previously told Block Club Chicago he still plans to open a new restaurant, which he said he would call "Allegedly's," an apparent reference to the misconduct allegations against him. Block Club reported it is unclear where that plan stands.

The lawsuit lands amid broader scrutiny of Fleming's future in Chicago's restaurant industry. Alderman Gilbert Villegas of the 36th Ward, whose ward includes a possible location for a separate proposed business called Lords with reported ties to Fleming-connected owners, said he is aware of "troubling allegations of abuse" and that his office is in communication with the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection about next steps. The CHAAD Project and members of the Humboldt Park community have criticized any effort to open a business in their neighborhood given the allegations, arguing it would put industry workers at risk.

The Warlord case is the latest in a string of Chicago-area restaurants destabilized by misconduct allegations. Fat Rice shuttered in June 2020 after employees accused ownership of racism and a hostile work environment, later reopening as NoodleBird in 2021. In 2019, Band of Bohemia chef Ian Davis resigned following anonymous Instagram allegations of mistreatment. And last year, Michelin-starred chef Jacob Bickelhaupt, who had pleaded guilty in 2017 to attacking his ex-wife and business partner in Chicago, causing the closure of his restaurant 42 Grams, was charged in South Florida with a brutal assault that left a woman in critical condition; his restaurant Konro closed in 2025.

For Warlord's staff and the broader Avondale community, the outcome of the Cook County case will determine whether the restaurant survives at all.