Jose Soto is in court over soda coolers
sold along with the Lisbon Street store
he opened in 2001.
LEWISTON – A man who spent years advocating for local migrant workers is being sued for allegedly selling equipment that didn’t belong to him.
Jose Soto, the founder and former director of the Maine Rural Workers Coalition, is the subject of a lawsuit filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court.
The suit was filed last week by Graham Inc., the company that took over the Hispanic market that Soto opened on Lisbon Street in 2001.
Soto sold the business to Graham Inc. last February for $30,500.
According to the suit, the sale included several items that didn’t belong to Soto, including two leased soda coolers valued at about $10,000.
The new owner claims he didn’t know that the coolers hadn’t belonged to Soto until a representative from Seltzer & Rydholm visited the store, noticed that the coolers were filled with another company’s products and explained the situation.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to get the $10,000 back from Soto, Graham Inc. decided to take Soto to court.
Reached Tuesday at his new home in Florida, Soto described the suit as outrageous.
He claims that the new owner must have known that the coolers were leased.
Soto defended himself further by claiming that he wasn’t involved in the specifics of the sale. The deal, he said, was negotiated by Graham Inc. and Coastal Enterprises Inc., a local nonprofit organization that lent Soto the money to open the business.
Soto said all of the money from the sale went to Coastal Enterprises since he hadn’t come close to paying off his loan.
In its suit, Graham Inc. accuses Soto of breach of contract, intentional misrepresentation, and negligent misrepresentation. It is seeking damages to cover the cost of the coolers, plus interest and attorney’s fees.
Located at 766 Lisbon St., the market is still called Bodega El Coqui, which means “the frog market” in Spanish.
Soto opened it after hearing from dozens of local Latin American and Puerto Rican residents that there was nowhere to buy ingredients to make their favorite Hispanic dishes.
He sold the business in February after he decided to leave his post as director of the Maine Rural Workers Coalition and move to Florida for the winter.
He said Tuesday that he remains in touch with many of Maine’s migrant workers and he plans to return to Maine this summer to continue his work helping migrant workers get decent jobs, health care, housing and transportation.
“I just needed a break,” he said. “But I want to return. Maine is where my heart is.”
lchmelecki@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.