- Kytch, a startup using technology to control ice cream machines, is suing McDonald's.
- The complaint accuses the chain of false advertising and interference in its customer contracts.
- McDonald's is alleged to have emailed franchisees saying Kytch devices violated machine warranties.
McDonald's is being sued for $900 million by a startup that created a device it said was designed to fix the chain's ice cream machines.
In a lawsuit filed by Kytch on March 1, McDonald's is accused of having sent emails to franchisees saying that Kytch devices violated the machines' warranties and intercepted their "confidential information."
McDonald's is also alleged to have said the device posed a safety threat and could lead to "serious human injury."
Kytch, which provides remote controls, maintenance, and other tools for ice cream machines, describes both claims as false and defamatory. Its lawsuit is also critical of Taylor Company, which is the chain's main provider of ice cream machines.
Kytch's co-founders, Melissa Nelson and Jeremy O'Sullivan, are asking for $900 million in damages, accusing McDonald's of defamation, false advertising, and tortious interference in its contracts with customers, per the lawsuit.
Neither Kytch nor McDonald's immediately responded to Insider's request for comment, made outside of normal working hours.
According to McBroken, a website tracking the chain's broken ice cream machines, 12.57% of machines are currently out of use, with 36.73% not working in New York.
Despite the reportedly widespread issues surrounding ice cream machines, "McDonald's has failed to meaningfully improve the machines, and the fast-food giant has even granted Taylor exclusive rights to supply kitchen appliances to more than 13,000 retail locations in the United States," the lawsuit alleged.
It added: "This arrangement generates millions of dollars of revenue for Taylor and its network of franchised distributors."
In September last year, Insider's Mary Meisenzahl reported that McDonald's frequently broken ice cream machines were under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. The chain countered this claim by saying it had no reason to think it was under investigation.
In a statement sent to Wired after the complaint was filed, McDonald's said it "owes it to our customers, crew, and franchisees to maintain our rigorous safety standards and work with fully vetted suppliers in that pursuit. Kytch's claims are meritless, and we'll respond to the complaint accordingly."
O'Sullivan told Newsweek: "If their mission was to destroy Kytch, they absolutely succeeded. What has blown up in their face is this massive trail of really damning evidence of all the laws they've broken."
He added that it took him and Nelson months, "if not a full year," to gather all the evidence and data, and "convince very smart attorneys to take this data and litigate it against probably the most fearsome company to sue, which is McDonald's."