Sweetie Pie’s Owner Robbie Montgomery Slaps Son With Lawsuit Over Restaurant

Robbie Montgomery and her son, Tim Norman

Things have gotten so ugly with Sweetie Pie’s owner/reality star Robbie Montgomery that she’s lawyered up literally, taking her own son to court.

Oprah with ‘Welcome to Sweetie Pies’ cast circa 2013

According to reports, she is suing her son James “Tim” Norman (who also stars with her on the OWN reality series ‘Sweetie Pies’), claiming he misappropriating her accounts and funds maintained in connection with his management of Sweetie Pie’s in The Grove, at 4270 Manchester Ave.

According to Robbie, he withdrew “substantial sums of money” from Robbie’s accounts, used them in restaurants and has refused to return the money he withdrew. The suit also accuses him of violating Sweetie Pie’s trademarks.

Tim Norman

The St. Louis Business Journal reports:

“Authorized” Sweetie Pie’s locations are located in The Grove and in Dellwood, according to the suit, but TJ’s Sweetie Pie’s Noho (North Hollywood, California), TJ’s Sweetie Pie’s Airport (Berkeley) and Sweetie Pie’s Kitchen (Florissant) are not authorized. Montgomery’s first restaurant, in Dellwood, opened in 1996, and recently reopened. A listed phone number for The Grove restaurant was disconnected Wednesday. The suit said Norman’s misuse of Sweetie Pie’s marks, registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2006, impairs Montgomery’s ability to operate her restaurants in the St. Louis area and to open any restaurants in the Los Angeles area.

The suit said that because Montgomery and Norman were featured as family members on “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” an Oprah Winfrey Network reality TV show, there is a further chance of “causing confusion in the market place.”

The suit cited negative online reviews for Norman’s restaurants as having damaged the perception of Montgomery’s.

The suit seeks unspecified damages. [TheYBF, St. Louis Business Journal]

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