Winery brothers' feud continues
Joe Filippi, president and majority owner of the city's most famous winery, has filed another lawsuit against his brother, Gino Filippi, for failing to take a drug test under board policy. The suit seeks to remove Gino from the Filippi Winery's board of directors.A quick recap: Joe fired Gino from his vice president post in 2007 but Gino remained on the board and continues to own 45 percent of the company. Gino then sued Joe for firing him without cause. Joe counter sued, accusing Gino of taking money from the business and testing positive for cocaine years ago.
Now Joe wants Gino off the board entirely because Gino has failed to take a drug test. According to court documents, "(Gino) Filippi's failure to take corrective action with respect to any director or officer or management personnel who may test postivie for ingestion of illegal drugs may jeopardize the business of Filippi and the licenses held by Filippi for its business."
This certainly has potential to be a human story: whether the wine business tears apart the family, or the brothers’ infighting brings down the family business, or both. It brings to mind stories of the Mondavi family.
Mimicking precedence, call it The House of Filippi.
Regarding the previous statement, I'd say wine is a far cry from cocaine, and besides this conflict the Filippi winery is doing well. I've been a customer for years, and have had the chance to meet Joe and many of his staff, and they are a friendly and welcoming bunch. I believe that this is just a small hurdle for a business with a bright future. Keep up the good work guys!!