2 lawsuits accuse Dunkin' Donuts of making millions of dollars by overcharging customers
Daniel Oines/FlickrTwo recent lawsuits accuse a dozen Dunkin' Donuts locations in New York and New Jersey of overcharging customers about 70% of the time in recent years.
The class actions say Dunkin' Donuts charged a sales tax on items that should not have been affected, including bottled water and ground coffee in New Jersey and packaged coffee beans in New York, the New York Post reports.
Lawyer Carl Mayer, who filed the suits, says Dunkin' Donuts locations made an estimated $10 million off New Yorkers and $4 million from New Jersey customers in the past three years.
"Despite being aware of the illegality of their actions, Dunkin' Donuts continues to flaunt the law and dunk their customers, leaving them with a sour taste in their mouth when they buy their sweets," reads the complaint filed in New York federal court.
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The lawsuits argue that the franchisees and Dunkin' Donuts corporate were aware that the locations were charging a sales tax on tax-exempt items.
"Dunkin' Donuts has over 1,000 restaurants in New Jersey and New York that are owned and operated by individual franchisees, who are expected to comply with all applicable state and federal laws including those relating to taxation," Dunkin' Donuts said in a statement in response to the cases. "We are in the process of reaching out to the franchisees identified in the complaint in order to determine whether these taxes were charged to customers."