Dunkin’ got dunked.
A New Jersey judge has denied a motion to dismiss a class action alleging widespread racial discrimination against Dunkin’ Brands.
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mathias Rodriguez on Dec. 21 rejected the Canton, Mass.-based doughnut chain’s argument that too much time had elapsed and that the allegations exceeded the statute of limitations.
Dunkin’ franchisees, who are African-American and Indian-American, claim the publicly traded company steered them to undesirable locations based on race.
Reggie and Amy Pretto, who are African-American and used to own stores in Baltimore and Washington, DC, sued Dunkin’ execs for making “false representations regarding the unavailability” of stores in better locations.
The Prettos claim Dunkin’ intentionally misled them with rosy projections about weekly sales at their Maryland locations. After their stores struggled, the couple filed for bankruptcy in 2007, according to the suit.
Priti Shetty, who is Indian-American, claimed that Dunkin’ officials told her she was not “servile enough” and rejected her as a stand-alone owner.
Rodriguez is expected to issue an order that would allow the former Dunkin’ franchisees 120 days to depose witnesses and make their case.
“Dunkin’ sought unsuccessfully to avoid . . . the lawsuit on technical statute- of-limitations grounds, but [Rodriguez] rejected Dunkin’s dismissal argument on the basis that the complaint made highly specific allegations of discrimination and that the statute-of-limitations argument was premature,” said plaintiff attorney Jerry Marks.
“Our motion to dismiss was not about the merits of the case, although we think the charges are baseless, but rather about the statute of limitations,” a Dunkin’ spokeswoman said.