Aryzta claims ex-client on a ‘fishing expedition’ in $16m US lawsuit
CUISINE de France owner Aryzta has accused a former customer in the US of attempting to expand areas of enquiry in a multi-million dollar lawsuit between the pair to “matters wholly unrelated to the actual dispute between the parties” and engaging in a “fishing expedition” in discovery matters.
The $16m (€13.6m) lawsuit by US firm McKee Foods has its roots in an immigration crackdown against workers at
Aryzta facilities that resulted in 750 of them being let go, creating havoc for the plants.
The workers had been supplied to Aryzta by a third-party staffing agency, and the firm was unaware of the workers’ deficient visa status.
McKee Foods sued Aryzta in 2017, claiming it had lost millions of dollars in profits as Aryzta was allegedly unable to fulfil all its orders.
“McKee is now seeking production of documents (many of which are confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege or work-product doctrine) that have nothing to do with the underlying dispute, either to make discovery as cumbersome, invasive, and expensive as possible, or to use this lawsuit as a way to gain valuable market intelligence about its customers and competitors,” Aryzta has claimed in a Tennessee court.
But McKee told the court that the discovery requests to which Aryzta has objected are directly related to McKee’s claims that Aryzta violated specific provisions of an out
Dispute over lost profits after worker swoop left orders unfilled
side manufacturing agreement (OMA) between the two companies.
“Aryzta’s refusal to produce documents bearing directly on the violations of the OMA which McKee has alleged and the defences Aryzta has asserted hampers McKee’s ability to prosecute its claims,” lawyers for McKee allege.
The US company is seeking details of Aryzta’s contracts with retailers including Walmart, Aldi and Sam’s Club. It wants to see those contracts to assess how Aryzta allocated production for different clients’ products.
McKee also wants access to documentation regarding the acquisition of Aryzta’s relevant US bakeries, which the SwissIrish firm sold in 2018 to McKee’s competitor, Hostess at a deep discount to the original acquisition price.
“Is this really about the present litigation or simply a fishing expedition to gain insight into the competitive snack food manufacturing market generally?” questioned lawyers for Aryzta.