UGK Legend Bun B has filed a lawsuit against two former business partners, claiming that they stole tens of thousands of dollars from his Trill Burgers company. The hitmaker and his current partners sued the other parties for $250,000.
For their part, the former co-founders and siblings Patsy and Benson Vivares argue that they were involved in the restaurant’s conception and that they, not Bun B, came up with the idea for the fast-food restaurant. Additionally, they claimed that they created the recipe for Trill Burger as co-owners of Trill Burgers and that it has since been taken from them.
What happened?
Trill Burgers, a Houston pop-up restaurant, was founded in July 2021 by Bun B, Benson Vivares, Patsy Vivares, Andy Nguyen and Nick Scurfield. At the time, the Vivares were also operating Sticky’s Chicken, their wildly successful food truck enterprise. They claim it’s where the idea for the recipe that would later be recognized as the original Trill Burger originated.
The partnership didn’t last a year before the Viavareses left after being accused by the other partners of using money to pay off Sticky’s Chicken.
They were later accused of stealing $45,000 from pop-up ventures at the Houston Rodeo and were sent a separation agreement in Jan. 2023 by Bun B and the remaining co-founders stating the siblings neither returned the money nor signed the agreement. They also wanted to access documents to review how the siblings spent the funds over time.
According to KPRC, they received text messages from Patsy Vivares stating that she used $45,000 of the proceeds earned at the event to help her family business.
“I used $45,000 of the rodeo money to pay for Stickys. These bills were pressing & were threatening to shut us down,” read the text.
The Vivareses claimed that the decision was justified, claiming that the money they put to use was for reimbursed costs that helped the business.
In Jan 2024, the Vivareses made a counterclaim alleging Bun B was attempting to steal the corporation as a whole and the recipe.
“Let it be known: Trill Burgers was not Bun B’s idea, nor was it the result of his sweat equity or ingenuity. Patsy and BJ are the true heroes,” one of the Viavareses’ lawyers, Walter Beard, said.
What’s next?
A hearing to decide whether the Vivareses’ lawsuit may proceed has been scheduled for April after judges rejected the Vivareses’ attempts to impose restrictions on Trill Burgers’ commercial operations.
The Viviareses and the Trill Burgers partners want a jury trial for their cases.