Justin Timberlake sues insurance firm over restaurant sewage problem

Justin Timberlake is taking legal action against the bosses of a New York insurance company, alleging they owe him and his business partners for forcing them to prematurely re-open their Italian restaurant business after a sewage mess.

The pop star and his partners opened Destino in 2006, but they had to close down the eatery in July, 2013, after pipes above the venue burst, covering the place in human faeces.

They claim bosses at Amguard Insurance Co. had the problem fixed and rushed them to reopen four months later, but another pipe problem in the basement caused sewage to spew all over a freshly-stocked food area, causing a mould infestation.

Timberlake and his associates filed an insurance claim for $275,000 in repair costs and unspecified business losses, but their request was denied.

They are now suing Amguard executives over the mess after lodging a civil suit in Manhattan on Tuesday (20Jan15), reports the New York Post.

The second sewage incident prompted Timberlake and his partners to close Destino for good, although reports at the time blamed the closure on flooding problems.

Amguard representatives have yet to respond to the lawsuit.

Destino was Timberlake's second Big Apple restaurant to go out of business - he previously shuttered the first outpost of his Southern Hospitality barbecue hotspot on the Upper East Side in 2012.

A second branch of Southern Hospitality is still open and remains a popular eatery in the Times Square district.