Supreme Court Denies Fast Food Giant's Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court was recently called upon by fast food giant McDonald's to bail the restaurant out of a sticky situation.
The Supreme Court refused.
That means that McDonald's will have to abide by a lower court's ruling that says that the burger joint will have to face a class action lawsuit that alleges the company violated antitrust laws.
Way back in 2017, McDonald's was sued by franchise owners who allegedly "violated workers' rights by limiting their job mobility."
The case was initially dismissed in a lower court before the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit resurrected the proposed class action lawsuit.
The lawsuit seemed to be focused on the company's often-broken ice cream machines.
Currently, specific laws severely limit who is allowed to repair or replace the machines, making repair times extremely costly and lengthy for franchise owners.
"At present, only the company that makes the machines is permitted to carry out digital repairs." That "can lead to $625 per day of loss of sales … there are long wait times for authorizer repairs, and … a licensed repair technician charges over $300 per 15 minutes," the lawsuit claims.
Another part of the problem is "a standard provision in the McDonald’s franchise agreement" that "is known as Paragraph 14."
Paragraph 14 claims that "During the term of this Franchise, Franchisee shall not employ or seek to employ any person who is at the time employed by McDonald’s, any of its subsidiaries, or by any person who is at the time operating a McDonald’s restaurant or otherwise induce, directly or indirectly, such person to leave such employment."
McDonald's owners want their ice cream machines fixed, and the want the right to poach employees from other McDonald's.
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