The owners of a local restaurant are being sued in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court, the latest chapter in a series of financial problems for the local restaurant chain.

T II LLC, of Grand Rapids, Mich., an assignee of Gordon Food Service, Inc., filed a lawsuit this month against C.R. Thomas Corporation in care of Robert E. Thomas, OPR, Inc., and Elzabeth E. Thomas.

T II is seeking $97,276.25 plus interest and costs from the the restaurant and its operators.

In the lawsuit, T II alleges that C.R. Thomas' operators opened a credit account with the food service company in February 2003 to acquire goods with which to operate their restaurants, but amassed bills at both the Ashland, Ky., and Ironton locations that remain unpaid.

The lawsuit also alleges that Elizabeth Thomas attempted to make a $6,336.08 payment on the account but had no money in the business' checking account to cover the check.

The lawsuit alleges that Thomas wrote the check knowing it was worthless.

When contacted Friday, Robert Thomas said he did not have the time then to discuss the situation at length.

Thomas said "things are going well" and that &uot;things are going the right way&uot; in regards to the restaurant operations.

The C.R. Thomas restaurant in Ashland was shut down recently by the Kentucky Department of Taxation in an attempt to force the restaurant's hand in order to collect the back taxes the business owes. The Ironton location was still open on Saturday.