Raymond Theatre Suit Settled

Orange County club owner Gary Folgner says he has won a $192,000 settlement in a lawsuit related to his ill-fated attempt to run the Raymond Theatre in Pasadena.

Folgner, owner of the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano and the Ventura Theatre in Ventura, bought and refurbished the venerable, 1,900-seat theater in 1990 with plans to establish it as a competitor in the Los Angeles County concert market. But the November, 1990, opening and several subsequent shows had to be postponed or canceled when Pasadena fire officials said there was no documentation that newly installed seat cushions had been treated with fire-retardant.

Folgner lost control of the Raymond last November after falling behind on mortgage payments. He sued United Upholstery Fabric of Gardena in March, 1991, claiming that the company had falsely assured him that the seat cover fabric met fire safety regulations. Folgner maintained that the cancellations got the Raymond off to a poor start from which it never recovered. According to court documents, Folgner claimed direct financial losses of about $300,000, plus an additional $250,000 in lost goodwill.

Folgner said he decided to settle the case rather than go through a long and costly trial. As it was, he said, more than half the settlement was eaten up by his own attorneys’ fees.

Reached by phone on Thursday, United Upholstery’s operator, Charles Petlak, did not confirm the amount of the settlement.

“The insurance company is the one that settled it, not me. Whatever he got, he didn’t deserve,” Petlak said.