Ex-Speers councilman settles lawsuit with apology

By TAYLOR BROWN

Senior Reporter

tbrown@yourmvi.com

A former Speers councilman has made a public apology to a local businessman, his family and his employees for derogatory and defamatory comments he made against them.

Dave Barbe Sr., owner of Fourth Street BBQ, sued former Speers Councilman Mike Todora nearly a year ago over comments he made at meetings as an elected official and on his personal social media pages concerning Barbe, his employees and his business practices. 

The suit was amended in December to include additional evidence and information. Before the case continued through the court system, it was recently settled on the lone condition that Todora made a public apology. 

His apology ran Wednesday as a public notice in the Mon Valley Independent and was posted to Todora’s social media sites. 

“Michael Todora, former councilman of Speers Borough, hereby apologizes to David W. Barbe, his family, Fourth Street BBQ and the employees of Fourth Street BBQ for statements that I made at Speers Borough Council meetings, in the press and on social media. I had no basis to make any of my statements. I hereby acknowledge that Mr. Barbe and his employees are entitles to the same right to live and work in Speers Borough without harassment. 

“In fact, Mr. Barbe, his family and the employees of Fourth Street BBQ have made a positive impact one the economy in Speers Borough and I am thankful for all of their contributions.” 

Fourth Street BBQ is headquartered in the Speers Industrial Park, where it occupies four buildings and generates about $100,000 in property taxes annually for the borough. 

It supports 1,300 employees, both full-time employees and immigrants from staffing agencies who live in the Washington County area.

About 700 of the employees are immigrants, and they are all properly documented and vetted before they are hired, Barbe said.

Todora’s term on council ended in December and he did not seek reelection, but before his term came to an end he publicly attacked Barbe and his business practices on more than one occasion, which led to a civil lawsuit in Washington County Court. 

The suit was officially filed May 5, 2023, and amended in December to include additional evidence to back up Barbe’s claim of defamation. 

The suit contends that Todora “engaged in a campaign of making disparaging and defamatory comments regarding Barbe, with the intention of defaming Barbe and smearing his reputation in the local community.”

At a Speers Council meeting on Oct. 5, 2022, Todora claimed Barbe “is a millionaire who takes advantage of the citizens of Speers,” that he “treats his employees horribly” and “conducts his business under a veil of secrecy.” 

In statements published by the Mon Valley Independent on Oct. 6, 2022, Todora made statements that referred to Barbe’s employees as slaves and claimed they are not citizens.

Barbe said in October of 2022 Todora began to “engaged in a series of threatening phone calls to Barbe’s son, David Barbe Jr.”

In a Facebook posting dated Feb. 15, 2023, Todora made reference to Barbe’s “legal slaves” and made disparaging comments in other posts on social media regarding the immigrant employees claiming that they “smell like rotting vegetables” among other remarks. 

In answers to the amended suit filed in January, Todora admitted and denied accusations in the suit.

Todora claimed he did not attack Barbe’s character, claiming he was simply expressing his opinions based on “his observations as both a citizen and as a council member of what is occurring in the Borough of Speers.”

He also denied stating that Barbe “treats his employees horribly,” but admitted to calling Barbe an awful person and referring to employees of Fourth Street BBQ as “legal slaves.” 

Todora also admitted to claiming his employees are not citizens and that he did say Barbe is dishonest and cannot be trusted. 

Further, Todora denied accusations he harassed Barbe or his son via phone.

In a new matter brought fourth by Todora in his response, he raised affirmative defense of immunity, justification, laches, privilege, statute of limitations and truth.

Todora requested the suit be dismissed with prejudice, but Barbe’s representation in a separate reply denied those defense allegations and requested the new matter be dismissed a for a judge rule in his favor.

Before the matter continued in court, legal teams worked out a settlement with each other. 

Barbe said his only request was for Todora to make a public apology. No monetary compensation, damages or legal fees were requested. 

In an interview with the MVI on Thursday, Barbe said he’s happy that the matter is now behind him.

“The things he said, it was just not something I could let go,” Barbe said. “He apologized for what he did, and I’m not out to hurt anyone. As far as I am concerned, he is forgiven. He’s a young man with a family and everyone makes mistakes.”

Barbe said as a long-time business owner, the suit’s purpose was to let Todora know that his statements and behavior would not be tolerated.”

“It would have gotten messy and I never wanted that, I never wanted any of this,” Barbe said. “But in the same breath, I can’t have these things said about myself, my company or my employees. To have someone say things that are so hateful, and so wrong, I had to stand up for myself and for them.” 

Barbe said his employees are the best around.

“I have spent more than $1 million for immigration lawyers to make sure my employees are vetted and good to go. I did not have to do that, but I did,” he said. “The immigrant employees working for me, a lot of them are leaving the agencies to come work with me full time because they want to come on board to have better benefits. They really are remarkable, hard-working people.” 

Todora could not be reached for comment prior to press time.