A tech startup is suing McDonald’s over its ice cream machines. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Kytch, a startup that uses technology to operate ice cream machines, is suing McDonald’s.
The complaint accuses the chain of false advertising and interference with customer contracts.
McDonald’s is said to have sent an email to franchisees stating that Kytch devices are in breach of warranty.
McDonald’s is suing a $900 million startup that created a device it says was designed to repair the chain’s ice cream machines.
In a lawsuit filed by Kytch on March 1, McDonald’s is accused of sending out emails to franchisees stating that Kytch’s devices violate the machines’ warranties and intercept their confidential information.
McDonald’s is also alleged to have said the device poses a safety hazard and could result in “serious injury to a person”.
Kytch, which provides remote controls, maintenance and other tools for ice cream machines, calls both claims false and defamatory. His lawsuit also criticizes Taylor, a major supplier of ice cream equipment.
Kitch co-founders Melissa Nelson and Jeremy O’Sullivan, seeking $900 million in damages, as well as libel, accused McDonald’s of false advertising and interference with its customer contracts, according to the lawsuit.
In a statement sent to Insider, McDonald’s said it “must be to our customers, team and franchisees to maintain our stringent safety standards and work with fully vetted suppliers in this endeavor. Kitsch’s claims are baseless and we will respond to the complaint.” respectively.”
Upon learning that an unauthorized Kitsch device was being used at some McDonald’s restaurants, the fast food chain said it sent a warning to franchisees about the possibility of injury to crew or service personnel. This was due to the remote control system that Kytch uses on its software-serviced machines, the company says.
McDonald’s said the safety certifications cited in Kitsch’s complaint do not meet the chain’s stringent requirements for all equipment in its restaurants. According to McDonald’s, there were many different scenarios that could lead to possible injuries that Kitsch didn’t consider, she said.
The story goes on
In a statement shared with Insider, Kytch’s founders wrote that McDonald’s had “destroyed” its business, adding that “nothing can repair this damage.”
“McDonald’s has worked closely with its soft food dispenser manufacturer, the Taylor Company, to spread misinformation about our company, drive us out of the market and line our own pockets,” O’Sullivan and Nelson wrote in a statement.
According to McBroken, a website that tracks broken ice cream machines online, 12.57% of the machines are not currently in use, and 36.73% are not working in New York City.
Despite reports of widespread problems with ice cream machines, “McDonald’s has failed to substantially improve the machines, and the fast food giant has even granted Taylor exclusive rights to supply kitchen appliances to more than 13,000 outlets in the United States,” it says. in a lawsuit. supposed.
He added, “This arrangement brings Taylor and his network of franchised distributors millions of dollars in revenue.”
Last September, Insider’s Mary Meisenzhal reported that the Federal Trade Commission was investigating McDonald’s ice cream machines that broke down frequently. The network denied this claim, saying it had no reason to think it was under investigation.
O’Sullivan told Newsweek: “If their mission was to destroy Kitsch, they absolutely succeeded. What exploded in front of them was a huge plume of truly damning evidence of all the laws they had broken.”
He added that it took him and Nelson months, “if not a full year” to collect all the evidence and data and “convince very smart lawyers to take this data and sue them, perhaps against the most dangerous company that can be sued in court, namely McDonald’s.”
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