PARKSLEY, VA - The owners of a food truck in Parksley have filed a federal lawsuit against the town of Parksley and a Town councilmember, alleging harassment, damage to their property, and violations of their Constitutional rights.
According to Institute for Justice (IJ), a non-profit law firm, Theslet Benoir and Clemene Bastien, who own the food truck Eben Ezer, are suing the town and Councilman Henry Nicholson after they say Nicholson repeatedly harassed them, damaged their property, and the town retaliated against them for criticizing town policies. The IJ, representing Benoir and Bastien, claims Nicholson and the town violated the owners’ constitutional rights when Nicholson allegedly came onto the property and cut the food truck’s water line and used his position on the council to push a food truck ban within town limits.
The lawsuit comes as the latest development in an ongoing conflict between the food truck owners and Parksley officials that began when Benoir and Bastien were accused of running a pipe into the town’s sewage line to dispose of dirty grease. Benoir, Clemene, and the IJ say that claim is false and the water observed near the food truck was from a burst town pipe.
Benoir and Bastien previously told WBOC they felt they never had a fair chance at succeeding and that part of the conflict was because of their ethnicity, a claim Parksley Mayor Frank Russell vehemently denied.
Benoir and Bastien came to the US from Haiti in 2005, according to the IJ, and purchased a one-year food truck permit from the town of Parksley in June 2023. The IJ says Councilman Nicholson has opposed the food truck since its opening and allegedly cut the truck’s water line and used his own vehicle to block food deliveries to the truck.
On October 9th, Parksley passed an ordinance banning food trucks, a move the IJ says was spearheaded by Nicholson. At the time however, Mayor Russell said he did not plan on shutting down the food truck, but instead let it operate up until the expiration of the one-year permit.
Then, on November 2nd, the IJ says they sent a letter to Parksley calling on officials to repeal the ban. The town’s attorney then sent a letter to Benoir and Bastien the next day, according to IJ attorneys, telling them they were illegally operating the truck and committing misdemeanors every day the truck was in operation, a reversal of the Town’s previous position. After the town allegedly told them each day of operation was punishable by 30 days in jail and $250 in fines, the IJ says Benoir and Bastien stopped operating the truck.
“Parksley’s ongoing efforts to shut down Clemene and Theslet’s business after they sent a letter criticizing a new ordinance is a blatant example of unconstitutional retaliation,” said IJ Attorney Dylan Moore. “Shutting down safe and legal businesses over a personal dispute is not a legitimate exercise of local government power.”
At a press conference on Tuesday morning in front of a federal courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia, Clemene and Theslet were joined by attorneys from the Institute for Justice(IJ) and a pastor.
Dylan Moore, an attorney with IJ, outlined the alleged incidents that occurred shortly after the food truck opened back in 2023.
"Just about a week after they opened their business Councilman Henry Nicholson showed up irate, he launched into a tirade about how competition from the food truck would harm the bottom line of local restaurants, who's owners he has close connections to," said Moore.
The lawsuit also alleges Nicholson severed the trucks water line and verbally harassed Bastien.
"The next day he came back to the food truck, this time intending to prevent a box truck from delivering groceries to Clemene and Theslet. When Clemene confronted him, he told her to go back to her own country," said Moore.
Bastien, through a translator, said the incidents have left a lasting impact.
"People don't know how much I have suffered, but I have to tell you I suffered enormously as a result of all this harassment," said Bastien.
We were able to speak with Parksley's mayor, Frank Russell and Councilman Nicholson on Tuesday. Both Russell and Nicholson told WBOC they have no comment at this time.
