Celebrity chef Barbara Lynch sued for almost £1.3 million of unpaid taxes after scandals caused career spiral

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A celebrity chef who has been plagued by scandal is being sued for an upaid tax bill of almost $1.7 million (around £1.3 million)

Barbara Lynch, who was once a renowned restauranteur, recently announced the closure of the last of her three remaining eateries in Boston, Massachusetts, following a series of scandals.

Now the star, who once had a $24 million (around £19 million) restaurant empire, is being sued by the city of Boston for nearly $1.7 million in unpaid taxes.

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A lawsuit filed against her states: “Ms. Lynch has failed, directly and through her corporate entities, to pay taxes due and owning to the City of Boston despite clear notification from the city,” as reported by the Daily Mail.

“As Ms. Lynch continues to evade these taxes due and has publicly announced her plans to sell her remaining restaurant businesses, the city brings this action to recover the over $1.6 million due and accruing.'

Lynch, aged 60, has been well known in the fine dining scene in America for 30 years. The lawsuit filed on Wednesday (November 13) through Suffolk Superior Court revealed 'vast unpaid amount of taxes' across her seven establishments in Fort Point, the South End and Beacon Hill, which have been ignored for more than a decade.

Celebrity chef Barbara Lynch is being sued in relation to upaid taxes worth almost £1.3 million. Photo by Instagram/@barbaralynchbos.Celebrity chef Barbara Lynch is being sued in relation to upaid taxes worth almost £1.3 million. Photo by Instagram/@barbaralynchbos.
Celebrity chef Barbara Lynch is being sued in relation to upaid taxes worth almost £1.3 million. Photo by Instagram/@barbaralynchbos. | Instagram/@barbaralynchbos

Her 4.5 star French restaurant No. 9 Park owes more in taxes than any of her other businesses - more than half a million dollars (around £400,000) which date back to 2011. She also owes $156,188 (around £124,000) in taxes at B&G Oyster, which also dates back to 2011.

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She owes a further $515,107 (around £408,000) at Menton, another modern French restaurant and $134,714 (around £106,000) at Drink, her cocktail bar - bills which have gone unpaid since 2015.

The lawsuit also claimed that she owes $148,269 (around £118,000) in taxes at The Butcher Shop, dating back to 2013, $124,995 (around £99,000) at Italian eatery, Sportello, dating back to 2012, and $8,003 (around £6,400) at Stir, her bookstore for cookbooks and classes, that has been outstanding since 2017.

The suit stated that along with her restaurants' corporate entities, she failed to pay personal property taxes for many years, except for one payment from each entity in August 2021.

Lynch's seven restaurants, which accumulated more than $20,000 (around £15,000) in back taxes over the last several months, received final notices in January. Her owed tax money is also continuing to grow at a rate of $366.94 (around £290) a day.

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The world-leading chef was listed as one of the Time's 100 most influential people in 2017. But, her career started to take a downward spiral amid multiple scandals, which included accusations of bullying in the workplace and a drink driving charge.

In March of last year, two of Lynch's former employees filed a class-action lawsuit against her, claiming that she had failed to pay out tips to staff after her eateries re-opened after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Boston Globe.

Lynch received loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Plan to help her eateries remain in business during the pandemic. B&G Oysters received $850,000 (around £674,000) and Drink received more than $1.3 million (around £1 million).

In 2017, Lynch was charged with alleged drunk driving in Gloucester, Massachusetts, while driving home from work at one of her restaurants.

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Local reports at the time stated that she said she had “a few glasses of wine with dinner” and “did not know what happened”. After failing a series of field sobriety tests, she was found to have had a blood alcohol content of 0.159, nearly twice the legal limit.

In the wake of these scandals, she began pulling back from her multiple Boston establishments at the end of 2023. Then, last month, she wrote on Instagram that her newest eatery, The Rudder, would close.

By the end of the day, she announced the closure of her remaining three restaurants, claiming that the financial challenges of running the businesses contributed to her ultimate decision, the Boston Globe reported. 

The city of Boston requested a temporary restraining order against Lynch in their court filing in an attempt to preserve assets in the event of her restaurants being sold to make sure any back taxes would be paid. 

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