Dunkin' responds to discrimination allegations
November 18, 2007
BlueMauMau: Dunkin' Brands' president and executive VP has stated in a systemwide memorandum that given the accusations of racial discrimination, the company has now decided to respond.
The memo declares Dunkin' Brands has filed a lawsuit against a franchisee in the Hudson Valley area of New York seeking termination. Dunkin' intends to prove "extensive illegal conduct including falsified business records, false identification and a scheme to deny employees the overtime to which they were entitled." Many franchisees have claimed that the company has discriminated against "brown-skinned" minorities in a effort to deprive them of their franchise.
In a following memo, Mark A. Dubinsky, president of Dunkin' Donuts Independent Franchise Owners Inc., said Dunkin' Brand's actions against the Hudson Valley franchisee appear to be another example of the company's strategy to cut ties first and ask questions later.