WEST TOWN — The man at the center of a "nightmare" wedding who allegedly refused to refund a Bucktown couple the $12,000 they paid for catering at a venue that was never available has been fired from his consulting job at a food delivery startup.
Joshua Yates, owner of Pure Kitchen Catering, is accused by a couple and others of using an event space he didn't control to sell wedding services. And while Yates appeared on television and in news articles as a part of The Eat Purely Company, he has since been terminated, the company said.
Jeremiah Green, the founder of Eat Purely, located at 451-43 N. Elizabeth St. in West Town, said Yates is no longer employed by his firm.
"Mr. Yates was an independent contractor and is no longer affiliated with our company. Please help clarify that we legitimately had no part in any bride and groom’s wedding demise. We sincerely hope the couple whose story you told gets their refund as deserved," Green wrote to DNAinfo Chicago.
Yates' company, Pure Kitchen Catering, and Green's startup venture, Eat Purely, are "two unrelated and very different companies," Green said.
Green said that he and Eat Purely co-founder Raymond Lyle "terminated" Yates' contract from the four-month-old startup.
Yates has been under fire since a Bucktown couple went public accusing him of taking money setting up a wedding at Hub Studio Loft, 2155 W. Hubbard St. — a location he did not control. In that case, his lawyer said he offered the couple alternative locations but the couple did not find any acceptable.
Yates did not respond to requests for comment about his termination. He did, however, appear to start a GoFundMe page for the couple, saying "we feel terrible for not being able to better attend to thier wedding." Others have also stepped up to help the couple.
Green said he brought on Yates in April as an independent contractor "to help facilitate relationships with organic food vendors for The Eat Purely Company," which got its business license on April 20, state records show.
Eat Purely operates at 451-53 N. Elizabeth, the same address listed for Yates' Pure Kitchen. Green said Eat Purely took over Pure Kitchen's lease on July 1 but allowed Yates to continue using the kitchen to cater two events in late July.
Building owner Emil Bertolizzi could not be immediately reached for comment.
Sean Spradlin, who had worked for Yates at Pure Kitchen, became the chef for Eat Purely on July 1 when the kitchen lease was switched over, Green said.
But Green, attempting to further distance his company from Yates, said Spradlin joined Eat Purely on July 1 "a day after we understand that he left the employment of Pure Kitchen Catering."
"He’s a talented chef committed to organic, healthy food preparation, and we are delighted to have him on our team," Green said of Spradlin.
Furthermore, said Green, Yates' media appearances talking about Eat Purely was done "at his own initiative, not as a designated spokesman for us."
"When we added him as a contractor to the business it was to bring his knowledge of recipes and relationships with organic food vendors to our business, not to have him be a 'pitchman' on TV," Green said.
Meanwhile, after Bucktown couple Deanne Fornelli and Nick Dilly's story went public, five other engaged couples have reached out to DNAinfo Chicago to say that they have paid for catering in advance for fall weddings and were also pressured to pay upfront to Pure Kitchen Catering.
One West Town couple who asked not to be named say that after completing a payment for a fall wedding for most of their contract, Yates became unresponsive.
The bride was assured by Yates in mid-July that he would get back to her with answers to her questions about the event.
"I called his office, called his cell and the voicemail box was full, sent a bunch of emails over three weeks and then he finally got back to me this week, but we do not feel comfortable," the bride said.
Reached Tuesday, Fornelli, who ended up canceling her Sept. 12 wedding, said she has not heard from Yates about getting any money back and has communicated only with Yates' lawyer, Peter Nabhani.
Nabhani is also currently defending Yates in a civil lawsuit filed on May 5 by a former Pure Kitchen Catering employee who is suing Yates for not paying back wages of $8,566.00, according to records.
Yates owes $117,554.43 in back taxes to the State of Illinois, the majority for not reporting sales tax revenues, documents show.
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