Former Penticton Mayor John Vassilaki filed another lawsuit against two of his nephews last week in the Supreme Court of B.C. demanding they be forced to sell The Cellar Wine Bar and Kitchen in downtown Penticton.

Image Credit: Keith Lacey, Local Journalism Initiative

The longstanding legal dispute between former Penticton Mayor John Vassilaki and members of family continues.

Last week in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vassalaki, also recognized in the court action by his birth name John Vassilakakis, filed another civil action against his nephews Florio Michael Vassilakakis and George Ioannis Vassilakakis, who both live in Castlegar.

The civil action asks the court "directing the sale, by private sale, of the property civically known as 410-412 Main Street in Penticton."

This is the address of The Cellar Wine Bar and Kitchen that has been owned by the Vassalaki family for many years.

There are five upstairs apartment units on the upper level of the building.

There has been a long-simmering dispute over this property between Vassalaki and family members dating back several years.

The lawsuit states that any sale of the property "a commission of not more  than seven per cent of the first $100,000 of the gross selling price and 2.5 per cent of the balance of the gross selling price to be paid from the proceeds of the gross selling price."

The lawsuit further states that any of the parties to this proceeding be entitled to make an offer to purchase the other parties' interests in the property, subject to directions of the court for the making of exchange of offers.

The lawsuit states Florio Michael Vassalakakis owns 25 per cent of the property, as does George Ioannis Vassilakakis.

"Michael and George are John's nephews. Unfortunately, the relationship between the parties and other family members has deteriorated significantly over the last several years," states the lawsuit.

The Royal Bank of Canada has a mortgage and assignment of rents and the outstanding mortgage is just over $244,000, states the lawsuit. The property was recently appraised on June 1, 2023 and the estimated market value of the property at that time was estimated at $2.1 million.

In August of 2023, Penticton's former mayor was ordered to pay $14,000 in damages for a June 2020 assault on his own brother that occurred while Vassilaki was still leading Penticton city hall.

Details of the attack are contained in a civil judgement that was delivered on Aug. 25, 2023 in the B.C. Supreme Court in Kelowna by Justice Briana Hardwick, who described it as "another chapter in the unfortunate conflict that has arisen within the Vassilakakis family."

The civil case was actually launched by John in August 2021 against his brother, Nicholas. John sued because he believed he was being cut out financially from the family-owned Greer Block properties in downtown Penticton, home of the Wine Cellar Bar and Kitchen and five rental units.

John lost that battle in court in May 2023.

(John shortened his surname years ago and for clarity this article will follow the style used in the lawsuits by referring to the parties by their given names only.)

Meanwhile, Nicholas in October 2021 filed a counter-claim alleging assault against John. That matter was decided by at a separate two-day trial in Kelowna the first week of August in 2023.

According to Justice Hardwick’s decision, the trial heard John and Nicholas’s elderly mother moved in with their sister, Athena, in May 2020, and some gold coins and jewelry went missing in the transition.

On June 14, 2020, Nicholas called John to allege John had improperly taken the missing items.

That sent John into a rage, during which he left Athena an expletive-laden phone message, which was entered into evidence at trial.

John called his sister a “whore” and a “crook,” accused her of taking the coins, and threatened to kill Athena and Nicholas.

“You better take care of it. You better take care of it, ‘cause you don’t know what I’m like and what I’m capable of doing,” said John in the phone message.

Ten minutes after hanging up, “John made the further impulsive and improvident decision to get in his vehicle and drive to Athena’s house,” wrote Justice Hardwick.

Once inside, John pushed Athena into a countertop, then shoved Nicholas onto a couch and briefly choked him. Athena managed to pull her two brothers apart, then John left.

Athena called 911, then hung up before anyone answered because she had “immediate reservations about involving the police given that John was, at that point, the mayor of Penticton,” wrote Hardwick. “When the 911 dispatcher did call back, Athena reported that it was a family matter that had been resolved. As such, the police did not attend.”

Nicholas sought damages totalling $35,000, but Hardwick decided a more “modest” award was in order.

“Most significantly, there is no evidence of Nicholas suffering anything but minor injury and upset. He sought no medical attention. The medication he deposed he used for pain relief was, I find, already available to him for other issues,” said Hardwick. “On his own evidence, he recovered from any injuries in short order and there was no suggestion he was unable to carry out his day-to-day functioning without assistance during the material time. There is thus no disability or loss or impairment of life.”

John served 12 years as a city councillor before taking an unsuccessful shot at the mayor’s office in 2014. He tried again and won in 2018. His political career ended with a third-place finish in the 2022 mayoral race.

In May of 2022,  it was decided by a judge that a personal lawsuit filed by the former mayor against his own family should proceed to trial following a hearing in which the defendants sought to have the case dismissed due to delay.

That dispute also centred on ownership and operation of the Greer Block building in downtown Penticton.

On Aug. 26, 2021, John Vassilaki filed a notice of claim that names as defendants his brother, Nicholas Vassilakakis and Nicholas’s two sons, Florio and George Vassilakakis and the Cellar Wine Bar and Kitchen.

The defendants fired back in October 2021 with responses to John’s lawsuit and applied to have the case tossed out.

During a one-day hearing on that application in April of 2022, the judge heard John had yet to schedule the matter for trial or conduct examination for discovery of the defendants. The judge was not persuaded, however, that there had been inordinate delay.

But after reviewing John’s testimony from examination for discovery, the judge ordered him to amend his lawsuit to delete an allegation of and drop claims for aggravated and punitive damages.

John also agreed to remove George as a defendant after conceding he has no valid claim against George.

John claims he purchased the Greer Block building with Nicholas in 2013 on the understanding that John would be a silent partner and Nicholas would look after the building’s finances, while also owning and operating The Cellar.

Besides alleging the defendants withheld his fair share of the building’s rental revenue – estimated by John at $90,000 per year – John also claims The Cellar hadn’t been paying its fair share of related expenses, such as sewage and water utilities, all while enjoying below-market rent.

The defendants reject all those claims.

Nicholas also took things a step further in the October 2021 counter-claim, which alleges he was “wrongfully and intentionally assaulted and battered” by John in June 2020.

The incident allegedly resulted in Nicholas suffering shock, shoulder injuries, and difficulties sleeping and concentrating.

Attached to Nicholas’s counter-claim is a transcript of a phone message John allegedly left for his sister in June 2020, saying money must be returned to him or he would "kill all of you."

Nicholas claims John left the voicemail right before driving to their sister Athena’s home, where John allegedly pushed Athena into a kitchen counter, then pushed Nicholas onto a couch and choked him.

In documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court, John Vassilaki denied the assault, saying her acted in self-defence and allegedly attributes the threats to "being upset."

That claim states Vassilaki left the voicemail right before driving to his sister's home, where it's alleged he pushed her into a kitchen counter, then pushed his brother onto a couch and choked him.

Police were called, but Vassilaki had left before they arrived.

None of the allegations in the former mayor's original lawsuit, his brother's counter-claim or applications filed have been proven in court.

— This story was originally published by the Penticton Herald

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