RYE — A new lawsuit from Rye Harbor Lobster Pound’s co-owners alleges the Pease Development Authority and its executive director, Paul Brean, the New Hampshire Port Authority and longtime state Ports and Harbors director Geno Marconi conspired to hurt the oceanside business with a series of “harsh, anti-business policies” dating back to 2021.
The 13-count civil suit alleges the lobster pound has been “subjected to a campaign of extortion, intimidation, and corruption” by the Pease Development Authority and the Port Authority’s Division of Ports Harbors, accusing Brean and Marconi “improperly influenced the PDA and Port Authority, using their power to harm Rye Harbor Lobster Pound.”
A seasonal business, Rye Harbor Lobster Pound was opened by Itsuko and Nathan Hanscom on Ocean Boulevard in 1996. The lawsuit plaintiffs are Sylvia Cheever, the Hanscoms’ daughter, who is now the co-owner with her father of both the lobster pound and the Hungry Lobster restaurant in Rye, which opened in 2022.
The lawsuit alleges Rye Harbor Lobster Pound was “specifically” targeted with a 10% “concession fee” on its gross sales, its parking spaces were removed by the Pease Development Authority and the business’ water line was cut by the Port Authority. The co-plaintiffs allege the defendants strained the business’ relations with local fishermen, required the business to fund its own security detail after increased traffic at the site and “created a toxic and hostile environment” around the lobster pound.
A petition that gained more than 6,000 signatures helped save the Rye Harbor Lobster Pound’s season in 2021.
“These illegal and anti-competitive practices require judicial intervention,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys for Rye Harbor Lobster Pound, which operates on state land leased by the Pease Development Authority, on Jan. 10 in Merrimack County Superior Court.
Cheever did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, though a lawyer spoke on her behalf.
“The complaint contains our client’s allegations and claims and we look forward to adjudicating those claims in court,” said Michael O’Neil, an attorney for the plaintiffs, in a brief interview Tuesday.
Lawsuit accuses Geno Marconi of helping his family business
During the pandemic in 2020, amid social distancing guidelines, the Rye Harbor Lobster Pound reports in the lawsuit it saw an uptick in patronage and vehicles on site due to offering takeout service.
In 2021, Rye Harbor Lobster Pound’s right to sell food was rescinded by Marconi, who argued the business’ sales had outgrown the size of the shack’s intended use at the state marine facility. Then-Gov. Chris Sununu stepped in after Cheever created a widely shared petition seeking help, granting her and the business a one-year waiver to continue selling food from the lobster pound, effectively overruling Marconi’s prior decision.
In March 2022, Sylvia Cheever is seen getting ready to open Hungry Lobster, a seafood restaurant on Washington Road in Rye.
In an April 2022 vote, the Pease Development Authority board of directors approved another one-year waiver for Rye Harbor Lobster Pound to sell restaurant-style food, along with similar waivers for the other businesses at 1870 Ocean Blvd.
The new lawsuit alleges Marconi was looking out for the interests of Geno’s Chowder & Sandwich Shop, the iconic Portsmouth eatery his late parents founded in 1965. Since 1998, Geno’s has been owned and operated by Marconi’s sister, Francesca Fernald.
“After Rye Harbor Lobster Pound had a successful 2020, the PDA and Port Authority, under the direction and influence of Marconi and with the support of Brean, began a campaign against Rye Harbor Lobster Pound, interfering with the business and its ability to operate,” the plaintiffs claim. “The series of actions taken against Rye Harbor Lobster Pound were driven by Marconi’s desire to harm a competitor to his family business and in retaliation against the Plaintiffs who were not part of Marconi’s network of allied businesses and individuals who worked for or were otherwise connected with the Port Authority.”
“Upon information and belief, Marconi ordered Rye Harbor Lobster Pound to stop selling chowder and other prepared foods because, among other improper reasons, his family owns and operates Geno’s Chowder and Sandwich Shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire,” the suit alleges. “Marconi, the PDA, and the Port Authority met with Rye Harbor Lobster Pound but failed to provide any justification for this decision other than traffic congestion and littering, issues that were not caused, or not solely caused, by Rye Harbor Lobster Pound’s operations in the marina. As a result of their fabricated concerns, the PDA and Port Authority refused to negotiate a Concession Agreement with Rye Harbor Lobster Pound for 2021.”
In recent summers, food sales have continued at Rye Harbor Lobster Pound, famous for its “fluffy” chowder, lobster rolls, prepared foods and shellfish. But the lawsuit suit alleges that since 2023, Rye Harbor Lobster Pound has had to pay $116,545.37 in “concession fees” from its gross sales to the Pease Development Authority and the state Port Authority.
What are the co-defendants being sued for?
The plaintiffs allege all four defendants violated equal protection clauses outlined in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, violated the lobster pound’s due process rights under the state’s Administrative Procedures Act, and violated the New Hampshire Constitution by not giving the business equal protection under the law.
The Pease Development Authority, the Port Authority and Marconi are accused by the plaintiffs of violating state law by requiring the business to pay concession fees to the state, a direct “pecuniary interest” for the former two defendants. The suit says Marconi has a pecuinary interest in “restricting Rye Harbor Lobster Pound’s operations because his family operates Geno’s Chowder and Sandwich Shop, a competitor of Rye Harbor Lobster Pound.”
The suit additionally calls the defendants’ alleged actions “extreme and outrageous” and accuses them of both intentional infliction and negligent infliction of emotional distress on Cheever and Hanscom. Each defendant is accused of civil conspiracy against Rye Harbor Lobster Pound.
Nathan Hanscom, co-founder and co-owner of Rye Harbor Lobster Pound, speaks at a meeting of the Pease Development Authority’s board of directors on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Portsmouth
“Their conduct, as set forth in this complaint, is the product of overt agreements among and between the Defendants, acting in concert, unlawfully, and inflicted injury on Rye Harbor Lobster Pound, Ms. Cheever, and Mr. Hanscom,” the civil suit says.
The 32-page complaint notes the co-plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages being granted to Cheever and Hanscom.
Marconi could not be reached Tuesday. Robin Melone, an attorney for Marconi, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, nor did Brean or Tom Maciel, interim director of Ports and Harbors.
Tiffany Eddy, spokesperson for the Pease Development Authority, acknowledged the lawsuit. “At the direction of the board chair, we do not comment on any ongoing litigation,” she said Tuesday.
Attorney general’s office to review lawsuit as it prosecutes Marconi in separate case
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office has received the complaint and will be looking into the matter, according to spokesperson Michael Garrity.
“The Civil Law Bureau of the Attorney General’s Office will review the complaint,” Garrity wrote in a Tuesday morning statement. “Separately, the Public Integrity Unit of the Attorney General’s Office would note that it takes seriously any allegations of misconduct by public officials.”
Marconi was placed on paid administrative leave from his position as port director by the Pease Development Authority last April. A Rockingham County grand jury indicted him in October on two Class B felony counts for allegedly tampering with witnesses and informants and falsifying physical evidence, in addition to four Class A misdemeanors for two counts of Driver Privacy Act violations and two counts of obstructing government administration.
Charging documents in his case allege Marconi gave “confidential motor vehicle records” regarding a person with the initials “NL” to a person with the initials “BC” on or about April 4 in Portsmouth in violation of the Driver Privacy Act. The indictment says Marconi allegedly did so “in retaliation.” He is also alleged to have deleted voicemails from a phone on April 22 in Stratham while knowing he was being investigated.
Prosecutors identified also-indicted Bradley Cook, chairperson of the state’s Ports and Harbors Advisory Council, as the “BC” referenced in Marconi’s charges. Prosecutors have not identified the person with the initials “NL,” though they have noted Neil Levesque, vice chairperson of the Pease Development Authority’s Board of Directors, is named in Marconi’s no-contact order issued as part of his bail.
Marconi is free on bail and in November pleaded not guilty to the charges at Rockingham County Superior Court.
Stephen Duprey, chairperson of the Pease Development Authority board of directors, publicly stated Jan. 7 that Marconi had filed paperwork with the state to retire from his position. Speaking on Marconi’s behalf, Melone, his attorney representing him in his employment matters but not his criminal proceedings, later disputed the statement by Duprey, saying Marconi has not retired.
Charges against state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi, the wife of Geno Marconi, were announced the day before her husband.
She was indicted by a Merrimack County grand jury on two felony charges and five misdemeanor charges for allegedly attempting to interfere in the criminal investigation into her husband. Court filings this week state Sununu and Duprey told investigators she did not seek help from them.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Rye Harbor Lobster Pound sues Pease leaders, Geno Marconi