BATON ROUGE- Izzo’s Illegal Burrito and its parent company have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the owners of Rouses Supermarkets.

The lawsuit alleges that the Thibodaux-based supermarket chain pressured the developers of some shopping centers to keep Izzo’s out of their developments.

Developers of Juban Crossing in Denham Springs, the Long Farm in Baton Rouge and Berryland Development in Tangipahoa Parish were “pressured” into excluding Izzo’s from their developments.

All of the shopping centers have Rouses Supermarkets in them, whether newly developed or under construction.

The suit claims that the actions were in retaliation for a 2012 incident that involved an Izzo’s restaurant manager, who was fired from his position and went to work at the burrito bar in a Rouses Supermarket in Lafayette.

The suit alleges that the worker used the same recipes from the restaurant’s recipe book at the supermarket.

Izzo’s won a court order to go into the supermarket and get the recipe book.

Copies of the lease agreements between Rouses and the three shopping centers filed in the current lawsuit contain exclusionary provisions forbidding the landlords of the three developments from leasing to Izzo’s.

However, Juban Crossing attorney Scott Crawford says that exclusionary provisions such as those are not uncommon in lease agreements between tenants.
 
Izzo’s is seeking damages for at least $10 million.