Christa v. Donner lawsuit was "personal"

Since I've had no luck landing an interview with David Christa himself, I decided to try the Christa Corporation's chief operating officer, Brian McKinnon.

Christa and his companies built the ESL Centre in 1998, and Christa reportedly has played a large role in the management of the facility since then. (I say "reportedly" because reliable sources say Christa IS involved in the centre, but when I talked to Christa's office manager last week, she said she was not aware that he was involved at all. When I talked to her, she said she would see if I could arrange an interview with Christa. That was Friday. I have yet to hear back.)

When I called the company today, I was surprised that I was patched right through to McKinnon. I asked him what Donner's role, if any, is in the ESL Centre currently. His answer: "I have no idea."

I then brought up the lawsuit Christa filed against Donner in 2002; Christa eventually won a nearly $25,000 judgment against Donner. I asked McKinnon what the lawsuit was over.

"That's personal," he said. "That has nothing to do with what you're talking about."

He then added, "I'm not going to comment any more about that, so don't ask me any more questions about it."

I didn't have a chance to ask him about the Centre Ice Restaurant and Bar, located at the ESL Centre. McKinnon and Donner are both on the restaurant's October 2001 certificate of incorporation.