The trial in a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Cuisine de France owner Aryzta in the United States will begin in August next year, a judge has ordered.
Tennessee-based McKee Foods has claimed it lost millions of dollars in lost sales due to problems at some of Aryzta’s former manufacturing sites in the United States.
The $16m (€13.4m) lawsuit by McKee against the Swiss-Irish baked-goods firm has its roots in an immigration crackdown against workers at Aryzta facilities in Chicago that resulted in 750 of them being let go, creating havoc for the production 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 late 2017, claiming it had lost and continues to lose millions of dollars in lost profits as Aryzta was allegedly unable to fulfil all its orders.
McKee sells well-known snacks in the United States, such as those under the Little Debbie brand.
In 2018, Aryzta sold its Cloverhill bakery to Hostess Brands, and its Cicero plant in Chicago was sold to to Bimbo Bakeries.
Aryzta exited the North America market last month, selling the business for $850m to an affiliate of US private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg.
Judge Christopher Steger at the district court of the eastern district of Tennessee has set out a scheduling order for the next year that culminates in the trial by jury in the McKee-Aryzta lawsuit commencing on August 30, 2022.
The trial is slated to last for five days.
Aryzta, whose customers include McDonald’s and Subway, was battered by a boardroom battle last year that saw activist shareholders successfully install their own nominee, Urs Jordi, as chairman.
The bust-up saw Irish businessman Gary McGann step down as chairman, while former Glanbia senior executive and ex-DAA boss Kevin Toland suddenly resigned last November as CEO.
In third-quarter results released earlier this month, Mr Jordi insisted that revenue development in the period was positive in terms of volume and price-mix for continuing operations across the majority of Aryzta’s markets, but that some have yet to turn positive.
In January, Aryzta announced it was cancelling its secondary listing on Dublin’s Euronext.
