After four years of harassment, five days of testimony and two hours of deliberation, a jury awarded $4.5 million to a restaurant employee who sued an acclaimed chef in Chicago.
Cody Nason, a former service captain at the closed Acadia restaurant in the South Loop neighborhood, won a unanimous verdict Sept. 20 against Ryan McCaskey, chef and owner of the fallen Michelin-starred establishment.
Nason sued McCaskey for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and tortious interference with a contract. A systematic online harassment campaign targeted the former employee, which he alleged was perpetrated by his former employer. The jury award included an additional $2 million in punitive damages, a reflection of the egregiousness of the defendant’s conduct, according to the plaintiff’s attorneys.
Nason also sued Corby Hagan, a former restaurant manager for McCaskey. Hagan, however, stopped participating in the lawsuit and defaulted. Cook County Judge Daniel Kubasiak entered a judgment order in the amount of $3,450,411.82, according to the plaintiff’s attorneys.
While each defendant is responsible for the judgment against them, the jury verdict and judgment order total $7,950,412.
The former service captain had only worked at Acadia for six months in 2019.
In June 2020, an account called The 86’d List launched on Instagram, and began anonymously sharing stories of racism and abuse in the Chicago restaurant industry. In July 2020 a post appeared criticizing McCaskey, apparently by multiple sources.
But in August 2020, a targeted harassment campaign began, which included a now-defunct website at codynason.com with personal contact information, racist and homophobic language, solicitations for sex and references to a brother who died at 31.
Nason was granted a stalking no-contact order against McCaskey in September 2020, but still left Chicago, because of anxiety over the harassment.
Four years later, both Nason and McCaskey testified at length in person during the five-day trial at the Daley Center.
Following the recent verdict in his favor, the plaintiff released a statement through his attorneys at Saper Law.
“I firstly would like to thank my parents for allowing me to pursue justice, it has been a long ride,” wrote Nason. “I would like to thank Daliah Saper, Brandon Beymer, Chris Theodosis, and her entire legal team for the attention and precision that they have brought for the last four long, hard years. I also want to thank the jury and court for hearing all of the testimony, viewing all of the evidence, and coming to a just verdict.”
McCaskey hid behind internet aliases, according to Saper Law. But the legal team “meticulously pieced together evidence” in support of Nason’s case. They “subpoenaed AT&T, GoDaddy and U.S. Bank, among others, to obtain call records, website data, and bank statements and reconciled them with the dates of harassment.” This evidence, according to the law firm, was crucial in demonstrating the chef’s active role in orchestrating the campaign against their client.
An attorney for the defendant sent a statement by email when the chef was asked for comment about the verdict.
“Ryan McCaskey is deeply disappointed by the jury’s verdict in this matter,” wrote Roger Malavia, partner at The Malavia Law Firm. “He has always maintained he was not liable for posting any defamatory content whatsoever and has never done so. Mr. McCaskey is not accepting the jury’s decision and will continue to maintain his innocence throughout the appeals process until he is vindicated and his reputation is restored.”
McCaskey was also reached directly by an Instagram message, but he did not comment further by time of publication.
Hagan could not be reached immediately for comment.
When Nason was asked to comment on McCaskey’s statement, he replied by email through his attorney Daliah Saper.
“I am incredibly grateful for the work Daliah and her team did and I fully trust that their work was thorough enough to withstand any appeals that may be coming,” Nason wrote. “I am not surprised in the least that Mr. McCaskey would attempt to appeal the decision but a jury of twelve had the opportunity to hear Mr. McCaskey’s arguments and still found for me. I have no doubt an appeals court will do the same.”
When Saper was asked about next steps, she replied by email.
“Mr. McCaskey will have to decide if he seriously wants to pursue an appeal,” Saper wrote. “If so, we will continue to represent Cody to ensure that Mr. McCaskey pays him every bit of the $4.5 million dollars the jury awarded him.”
“Unless the appeal is successful, Cody has a jury verdict/ court order that he can begin to collect on,” she added. “It doesn’t mean that he will automatically get all of the judgment. Collections can be a process.”
When asked what he’s doing now, and what he’ll do next, Nason replied by email through his attorney.
“I am currently living in Los Angeles and continue to work in the restaurant industry,” he wrote, requesting privacy for his new position and place of employment.
It’s unclear where McCaskey is, and what he’s doing. He was the chef at The Restaurant at Pilgrim’s Inn in Maine this summer, where he had returned for a second season, but his last day was a week before the trial began, according to innkeeper and owner Lindsay Schmurr who replied by email, but declined to comment further. Another chef took over before this season ended.
The trial began in Chicago Sept. 16.
The chef’s personal story was once part of the lore and perhaps a lure at what would become his critically acclaimed restaurant.
He was born in Vietnam, reportedly to a teenage mother.
Raymond and Judy McCaskey of Palatine adopted the infant, then named Tam Truong Tran, as part of a U.S. government program called Operation Babylift in 1975. The couple is known for their philanthropy and donated $11.5 million to Wartburg College in Iowa. It’s the alma mater of Raymond McCaskey, who was president and CEO of Health Care Service Corp., one of its subsidiaries is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.
The chef is not a member of the McCaskey family that owns the Chicago Bears.
McCaskey grew up vacationing with his family at their home in Maine. The state’s culinary history eventually inspired Acadia to feature lobster and foie gras in tasting menus. The chef opened his fine dining New American cuisine restaurant in 2011. Michelin awarded him one star in 2012 and two stars in 2015. Former Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel awarded Acadia four stars, the highest rating, in 2016. The restaurant retained its Michelin stars until it closed, effectively in July 2020 after The 86’d List allegations, then permanently in October 2021.
McCaskey was also a five-time James Beard Award semifinalist from 2014 to 2018. The foundation instituted a new awards code of ethics in 2022, investigating chefs accused of misconduct, barring them from an award, but not nomination. The annual gala ceremony has been held in Chicago since 2015, and will continue until 2027.
Michelin has no similar code of ethics that’s been made public.
Meanwhile, Nason is ready to turn the page.
“I look forward to moving on with my life and making sure that what happened to me will not define me for the rest of my life.”
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