Little Red Hen eviction dispute gets personal as case moves forward
The legal battle deciding the Little Red Hen's fate will stretch on even longer.
The beloved Green Lake country dive bar's eviction trial, originally scheduled for April 24, has now been moved to Sept. 24, according to an order Tuesday signed by King County Superior Court Judge Kent Liu, who found that, for a "fair and efficient resolution," more time is needed to gather evidence.
The case examines whether Hen owner Dominic Shim has a valid lease for the bar's commercial space. Shim claims he has a lease until 2030, while landlord Ruoxi Zhang, the owner of RLD Group who bought the property in 2022, says Shim has not held a valid lease in years.
It's been a laborious back-and-forth between the parties since RLD Group officially filed the eviction lawsuit on Nov. 5 stating it was left with no choice after Shim refused to engage in lease negotiations.
Matthew Mattson, the Seattle attorney representing the Little Red Hen, has pleaded in recent weeks to postpone the trial to allow time for discovery.
Attorneys for RLD Group rebutted last week that the increasingly odd and threatening behavior" of Shim "suggests that a prompt resolution, one way or the other, is required."
"The situation should not be allowed to fester for another six months," plaintiff's attorney Paul Taylor wrote in an objection filed April 8.
Before Tuesday's ruling, attorneys for the plaintiff filed court documents showing an email sent by Shim to RLD Group's Zhang last year regarding a dispute over dumpsters on the property.
In that email, sent at 1:04 a.m. June 12, Shim allegedly wrote: "You want to (expletive) with me, I have nothing to lose. I asked you nicely to leave me alone. You step on my toe, I will (expletive) with your whole family including your daughter."
Shim did not dispute the legitimacy of the email in a response filed in court April 9 by his attorney. Shim also declared April 9 under penalty of perjury that the "mistake email" was "part of a longer exchange in which I expressed concern that the landlord was refusing to honor my lease."
"While the tone of that communication was wrong, it occurred in a heated moment approximately ten months ago and was made in the context of that dispute," Shim wrote.
Shim has repeatedly stated to The Seattle Times and the court that he has a lease through 2030, established with the prior building owner, while RLD Group says Shim has never held nor negotiated a valid long-term lease.
"The tenant was and remains month-to-month," Taylor, RLD's attorney, wrote in his objection to the continuance. The plaintiff has consistently cited a 2022 letter of intent, signed by both parties, that denotes a month-to-month agreement. Shim claimed in a court declaration filed April 9 that he believes Zhang "tried to trick" him into signing it.
The disagreement hit a stalemate, then a breaking point last year, after an argument over the building's dumpsters led the landlord to give a notice to terminate tenancy.
Taylor told The Times on Friday that "the landlord worked hard to reach an accommodation but was unsuccessful."
Mattson said Tuesday: "We are appreciative that Judge Liu is providing The Little Red Hen with the opportunity of time to present a more developed defense.
Since June, there's been a cloud of uncertainty hanging over Hen regulars who've long listened to live music, shimmied to Monday line dancing lessons and belted their favorite songs at Wednesday karaoke nights. The bar has remained open throughout the active legal drama. After the Hen received the notice to vacate by the end of July 2025, patrons and organizers collected over 7,000 signatures on a petition to save the bar.
Seattle Times features editor Trevor Lenzmeier contributed to this report, which also used information from The Seattle Times archive.
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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 4:53 PM.