By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CRESTVIEW HILLS - The widow of an Applebee's manager gunned down outside the restaurant here has filed a wrongful death suit against the chain, alleging it failed to provide adequate workplace security.

The lawsuit seeks more than $5.5 million in damages for the widow of Mark Smith and his two sons, now 5 and 7. Stacy Smith of Burlington filed the suit in Kenton Circuit Court on Monday - one day before the first anniversary of the slaying.

Named as defendants are Applebee's International of Overland Park, Kan.; franchisee Thomas & King of Lexington; the real estate companies that own and lease the building; and David Parsons, the former Applebee's employee charged this month with Smith's killing.

State prosecutors say Parsons shot Smith at close range in the early morning of April 27, 2003, because he blamed him for his work troubles. A cleaning crew found the 36-year-old Marine veteran's body at 4:30 a.m. in the restaurant parking lot. He had been shot once in the cheek with a .380-caliber handgun.

Parsons remained in the Kenton County jail Tuesday afternoon without bond as he waits for a Kenton County grand jury to hear his case. Parsons has pleaded not guilty to murder, although detectives say he made statements about the killing twice on tape.

The suit, filed by attorney Edward M. O'Connell Jr. of Cincinnati, said Applebee's was aware of the ongoing dispute between the two men but did nothing to protect Smith.

The suit claims Smith recommended Parsons be fired for improper conduct and substandard work performance. Instead, the suit claims, Thomas & King transferred Parsons in January 2003 to the restaurant's Florence location. Parsons was fired a month later for allegedly stealing from a customer.

A spokeswoman for Applebee's International, a publicly traded company with nearly $1 billion in sales, declined to comment on the suit.

Officials with Thomas & King didn't return several phone messages. The company was founded in 1988 by Lexington Vice Mayor Mike Scanlon and has grown into the country's largest Applebee's franchisee with more than 80 restaurants in Arizona, Kentucky and Ohio.

Thomas & King had offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer and has repeatedly released written statements expressing their condolences for the Smith family.

E-mail jhannah@enquirer .com