McDonald's Faces $900M Lawsuit From Ice Cream Machine Repair Startup
McDonald’s Faces $900M Lawsuit From Ice Cream Machine Service Startup
McDonald’s
is depraved for french fries, Ronald McDonald and soft serve ice shout. But now a company that repairs ice cream machines is suing the fast food giant to the tune of $900 million, alleging defamation and disparaging practices.
Kytch, a startup business that creates AI-powered devices to monitor ice cream machines, filed a lawsuit earlier this month claiming that McDonald’s and the business that manufactures the chain’s ice cream machines “joined forces to power Kytch out of the marketplace.” In the 133-page law courtyard filing, Kytch leveled accusations of stealing confidential information and misleading its customers around safety issues.
The tech firm developed a product that could adjust the machines’ downtime and disclose customers with digital alerts. Pointing to broken McDonald’s soft-serve machines, Kytch founders Jeremy O’Sullivan and Melissa Nelson assert that the food chain and Taylor Company, the machine manufacturer, conspired to maintain a monopoly that damages franchisees thousands of dollars.
In the lawsuit, Kytch says its subjects was the only device on the market capable of securing the ice cream machines. The suit alleges that when the National Owners Association (of McDonald’s franchisees) endorsed Kytch, McDonald’s and Taylor attempted to create their own consecutively tech based on Kytch’s software — a similar subjects “that would prevent Kytch from fixing the machines.”
Additionally, Kytch alleges that McDonald’s made up false safety allegations that mislead customers into believing Kytch’s tech could moves serious injury. Kytch says the ongoing campaign ruined its business.
In the past, McDonald’s has acknowledged that its ice shout machines haven’t been the most reliable. In 2020, the business joked about it on Twitter.
The fast food chain battles the allegations and says that the lawsuit is baseless.
“McDonald’s owes it to our customers, crew and franchisees to maintain our rigorous safety standards and work with fully vetted suppliers in that activities. Kytch’s claims are meritless, and we’ll respond to the protests accordingly,” the company said in a statement to CNET.
