Judge rules in favor of Everett’s Soundview Deli owner

Published 12:46 pm Monday, April 13, 2026

EVERETT — After a prolonged legal saga, a Snohomish County judge ruled in favor of the owner of the Soundview Deli in a case that had forced the temporary closure of the convenience store late last year.

The ruling brought to an end the third court case between Lia Tetreault, the owner of the deli located near the Edgewater Bridge in Everett, and Soo Jin Jung, a contractor. Jung sued Tetreault in October to divide property he claimed they acquired together while in an intimate relationship. Tetreault denied in court that they were in such a relationship, and denied that they were business partners.

In November 2025, when a judge granted a temporary protection order against Tetreault after she had not filed a response to Jung’s October lawsuit, she was barred from accessing her store for weeks. During that time, the store was closed. In court filings, Tetreault said the lost inventory and damages to equipment due to the closure amounted to about $13,000.

The two had been entangled in court throughout most of 2025. In February, Tetreault filed a lawsuit to get a protection order against Jung, accusing him of blocking access to the living area below her store. Jung then filed a lawsuit of his own seeking a protection order against Tetreault. A judge eventually denied both, citing insufficient evidence.

Then, in October, Jung filed another lawsuit claiming Tetreault and Jung were in a committed intimate relationship, and asked the court to divide property they acquired together while in the relationship — including, allegedly, the Soundview Deli. Jung had claimed he was a business partner and had invested in the store; Tetreault staunchly denied that.

The business is solely in Tetreault’s name, state corporation records show. The building’s lease is also in only her name, the store’s landlord wrote in a court filing. In 2011, a King County jury had previously ruled against Jung in a similar case in which he claimed that he was the owner of a beauty salon. The jury ordered Jung to pay over $900,000 to the owner of the salon for breach of contract. He then filed for bankruptcy soon after.

In a March 27 hearing, Judge George Appel granted Tetreault’s motion for summary judgment — a ruling that finds there was no dispute to the material facts of the case, and that the person making the motion is entitled to the judgment as a matter of law, according to Cornell University.

At the hearing, Appel said that Jung did not provide evidence that he and Tetreault were in a committed intimate relationship.

“What you have said on whether or not you have a marriage-like relationship is only that you had a marriage-like relationship,” Appel told Jung during his ruling, according to a recording of the hearing obtained by The Daily Herald. “That’s not a matter of facts, it is an assertion or an argument. And I don’t know what it means.”

Jung, who was representing himself in court after his attorneys withdrew from the case, did not respond to an email seeking comment. In a court document filed after the judge’s ruling, he argued that it should be reversed. When speaking in the March 27 court hearing, he said he would have preferred the case to go to trial.

In an interview Friday, Tetreault said the prolonged legal fight was stressful and left her less trusting of other people. Now, she is focusing on moving on.

“I want it to pass over,” Tetreault said. “I want to keep going on with my life.”

Tetreault’s business had also been impacted due to the year-and-a-half closure of the Edgewater Bridge, which saw the number of customers visiting the shop decrease significantly due to the drop in traffic. The bridge will reopen on April 28.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.