Burger King Sues Prominent Dallas Franchisee After Rat Video Surfaces in South Texas

Burger King wants a Dallas businessman to remove the fast food chain's name and signature products from three dozen Texas restaurants after a video of rats at one location prompted health inspections and sales declines.The chain is seeking an injunction from a federal court in Florida to stop Fritz Management LLC and franchisee Guillermo Perales, one of its largest franchisees in the country, from using the Burger King name at 37 locations in South Texas. Burger King Corp. said it terminated Perales' franchise agreements in March after video of rats crawling around the floor of the Harlingen location went viral. That restaurant closed in February.Burger King's lawsuit said Perales and his company, Fritz Management, continue to operate the locations as Burger Kings, despite the termination. Perales couldn't be immediately reached for comment.Franchise agreements with Burger King ended automatically when Perales' company engaged in "a reckless disregard for the physical and mental well-being of employees, customers, BKC representatives or the public at large," according to the suit.It also cited widespread negative reactions on social media for driving down sales in the area. A clip of an investigation by Telemundo, shared to YouTube with over 10,000 views, shows footage of rats crawling the floor in Harlingen.  Continue reading...