A former Bao Brewhouse executive says his requests for company financial records were followed by his firing and a proposal that would have replaced his claimed ownership interests with an employee incentive plan. Alexander Comisar sued Bao Brewhouse Restaurant Group and owner Michael Swift on Tuesday, alleging an equity dispute, unpaid wages and wrongful termination, according to Westword’s account of the complaint. The allegations have not been resolved in court.
The records dispute
Comisar alleges that he sought financial and accounting records for Bao Tennyson and the group’s Downtown location but did not receive them. In February, he made another written request for financial statements, bank correspondence and related documents, the complaint says. He alleges Swift fired him about two weeks later in retaliation for seeking access to the records, according to Westword.
The complaint describes the records requests amid disagreement over whether Comisar held ownership interests in the businesses. It alleges that equity was intended to replace his previous salary and identifies three claimed interests: 4% in Bao Brewhouse, offered in January 2024; 25% in the Bao Tennyson expansion, offered in February 2025 and later reduced to 20% to make room for another partner; and 5% in the Dump’d frozen dumpling brand, offered that September.
What the complaint says about the proposed agreement
According to the complaint, an amended operating agreement sent to Comisar in January would have replaced his existing interests with a Bonus Incentive Plan. Under that proposal, he would be an at-will employee and could accrue a 5% company interest over four years. Comisar alleges the plan reduced his claimed 20% Bao Tennyson interest to zero and made future vesting depend on continued employment, which Swift could end at his discretion. He did not sign the agreement, Westword reports.
Comisar also alleges he was not paid for work on Bao Tennyson until two months after it opened and that he remained uncompensated for the 20% interest he says he had been promised. The complaint says Swift cited roughly $1 million in Bao Tennyson debt and offered Comisar an opportunity to buy an 18% Bao Brewhouse stake for $385,000 to help reduce it; Comisar says he declined. Westword reports that the lawsuit seeks payment for ownership interests Comisar says he held, damages tied to his claimed 20% Bao Tennyson and 5% Dump’d interests, unpaid wages, attorney’s fees and wrongful-termination damages.
The unresolved legal question
Colorado’s 2006 session law amended the LLC records statute to give members, subject to reasonable standards set by members or managers, a right to inspect and copy specified company records after a reasonable demand for a purpose reasonably related to their member interest, according to the Colorado General Assembly. That rule does not determine the dispute described in the complaint: the account does not establish whether Comisar qualified as a member when he made the requests or whether his requests met the statutory requirements.
The lawsuit therefore raises separate factual questions about the claimed ownership interests, access to records and termination. Neither Comisar’s legal team nor Swift responded to requests for comment, according to Westword.
