On Friday, a superior court justice granted a temporary injunction against Sunday River Brewing Co., stating the restaurant must remain closed until its licenses to operate are restored.
According to our information partners at CBS 13, the Department of Health and Human Services filed for the injunction earlier this week in Oxford County Superior Court, following owner Rick Savages defiance of Governor Janet Mills orders to close to dine-in customers.
Superior Court Justice Thomas McKeon wrote in his ruling “based on the evidence received to date, the injury to the public outweighs any harm which granting injunctive relief would inflict on defendant,” McKeon wrote. “The harm to defendant is that it will not be able to operate, at least in the short term, losing revenue. Although this will have a financial impact on the defendant, it does not outweigh the injury that continued operation causes to the public’s interest in the enforceability of the department’s licensing requirements.”
The document filed by DHHS earlier in the week outlines the events leading to the injunction filing.
“The defendant has made no effort cooperate with the department to have its license reinstated,” according to the complaint, submitted by Attorney General Aaron M. Frey, “and has clearly communicated its intention to continue to operate with a suspended license.”
Savage has not been deterred by the injunction, and says he will not change his plans to keep the business open in defiance of the state orders. Instead, he plans to file a lawsuit against Governor Janet Mills, the DHHS, and others who have actively fought for the shut down of Sunday River Brewing.
“Everyone who messed with us is going to have a lawsuit on their hands,” Savage said. “It’s going to be with a pretty powerful attorney and we’re going to win.”
