MWW is suing McDonald’s New York Tri-State Owner/Operators Association, claiming it is owed more than $5 million in fees, according to a complaint filed in Bergen County, New Jersey, Superior Court earlier this month.
According to legal newswire Law360, the firm has taken action against "McDonald’s Corp. and a trade association for more than 600 McDonald’s franchises."
MWW’s lawsuit is focused on "the allegedly bad faith termination of its marketing work for the association, which it also says owes more than $5.2 million in fees," according to Law360. The firm "contends that McDonald’s New York Tri-State Owner/Operators Association suddenly terminated its 17-year relationship" with it in early October due to separate work for an unidentified "casual dining restaurant" the association viewed as a conflict of interest, according to the report.
MWW also claims McDonald’s wanted the association to end its relationship with the firm because the national chain allegedly has "grossly anti-competitive policies and a racial bias against MWW’s management," according to the Law360 report.
"We were disappointed to learn of this lawsuit given our long working relationship and hope it gets resolved," McDonald’s said in a statement emailed to PRWeek. It said it could not comment further due to pending legal action.
MWW declined comment. Its attorneys, Michael Sirota and James Kim of the firm Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman, & Leonard, were also not immediately available for comment.
This story was updated on October 30 after MWW declined comment.