Pacific Stone Construction v. Santa Mix CA4/3

FACTS

I.

UNDERLYING CIRCUMSTANCES

Pacific Stone is a general contractor. Hootan Ataian is its president, chief operating officer, and sole shareholder. Prior to Pacific Stone’s formation in 2014, Ataian owned another general contractor entity named Signature Kitchen & Bath (Signature). Michael Rafipoor is president and chief operating officer of multiple corporations that own restaurants which operate under the name Panini Kabob Grill (PKG). In those roles, he supervises and oversees the operation of the restaurants, each of which is separately incorporated. Ataian and Rafipoor’s business relationship dates to the early 2000s. What began as Ataian doing some stonework at one of Rafipoor’s restaurants, turned into Signature being the general contractor for the buildout of multiple PKG restaurants, and ultimately Pacific Stone being secured to construct additional restaurants. In mid-2019, Rafipoor approached Ataian about the buildout of 10 more PKG restaurants in Southern California on a fixed fee basis with the potential for a substantial bonus. Construction started on many of the locations, but only three restaurants were completed by the time Rafipoor and Ataian’s…