News

Burger King settles deadline lawsuit with franchisee

May 1, 2011

Burger King Corp. has settled a lawsuit with 10-unit franchise owner Al Cabrera over his failure to meet the company's deadline to install new cash registers.

According to the Miami Herald, Burger King has been trying to close the units because of the missed deadline, which was Dec. 31, 2009. Cabrera was given a warning and extension until Feb. 12, 2010 but again failed to meet the date.

In January, a U.S. Magistrate Court denied Burger King's request for a temporary injunction to close a chunk of Cabrera's units.

Since that time, however, Burger King's new owner 3G Capital decided to settle the suit, and provided Cabrera with royalty fee compensation and other losses.

Building bridges seems to be 3G Capital's M.O. since taking over the quick-service chain in the fall. Earlier this month, Burger King settled another lawsuit with its National Franchisee Association over value meal pricing.

From the story:

Burger King's North America President Steve Wiborg said the settlement is part of a continued effort by new management to eliminate the distraction of franchisee litigation that remained from previous ownership.

"We want everyone focusing on beating the competition and not trying to fight each other," Wiborg said.