FERNDALE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A Ferndale city councilmember has been ordered to pay up following a breach of contract lawsuit.

A judge ruled on Sept. 25 that Robert Pinkley must pay Amberleigh Brown $333,333.33 following a two-day trial.

Court documents state the two partnered with a third man named Brett Wiltse in February 2018 to launch Leader Block Wine Co. and Eatery.

Brown served as general manager and Wiltse handled maintenance and contract work, while Pinkley is believed to have provided most of the funding.

Pinkley – who is serving his second term on the Ferndale City Council – fired Brown in July 2022 over claims of an inappropriate workplace relationship, misuse of company funds and other concerns.

Brown argued that Pinkley reclassified her from partner to employee after the fallout, which denied her of the company’s ownership and profits.

Pinkley countered that Brown was one of five general managers he employed at Leader Block and that he never promised her an ownership stake.

Judge Robert Olson ultimately ruled that Pinkley wrongfully fired Brown, since she had acted as a business partner in the four years leading up to the firing.

Olson awarded Brown a one-third stake in Leader Block, which was valued at $1 million.

Wiltse has also filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Pinkley, which is set to go to trial on Dec. 29.

Pinkley said in an emailed statement to My Bellingham Now that he’s “compelled to file an appeal” since he was out of the country during the first trial.

He also maintained that Brown and Wiltse wrongly believed they owned part of the business despite not investing any money into it. Pinkley says he’s “confident” an appeal will reverse the decision.

The lawsuits were first reported by the Whatcom Business Journal.