Predatory lawsuits are brought not because the litigant believes they’ve been wronged but rather for the purpose of extracting relatively quick settlements, explains Janet and Kathryn. And while you might not anticipate this kind of litigation in the restaurant industry, the authors explain there has in fact been an uptick in three types of claims that can affect food and beverage businesses: copyright infringement claims, “trap and trace” claims relating to online data tracking and targeted advertising, and website accessibility claims.

Predatory copyright infringement claims are often brought by plaintiffs who purchase the rights to photographs or images and then use technology to “troll” the Internet for uses of those photos or images. This can be a concern for restaurants who use stock images on their websites or food delivery mobile applications. Trap and trace litigation refers to the use of devices that capture dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information from electronic communications. While these devices do not capture the content of the communication they identify the source of the communication. The use of these devices may raise privacy issues, as they involve monitoring communication metadata, which can reveal information about individuals' activities and associations online. Website accessibility litigation involves digital content, like websites or food delivery phone applications, and usually allege that the website is not accessible to visually impaired or hearing-impaired individuals. While some website accessibility claims involve legitimate claims, predatory litigations are brought by plaintiffs who do not actually use the website or order on the application. Restaurants are frequent targets of these claims because most restaurants have an online presence and ordering function.  There has been a steady uptick in these types of lawsuits since 2023 in New York.

Janet and Kathryn indicate that it’s important for food and beverage businesses who are targeted to be aware that these lawsuits are often predatory in nature. Litigants know that restaurants run on tight budgets and the plaintiffs gamble on the assumption that the business will prefer to quickly settle the lawsuit rather than spend funds to hire an attorney. Read the article.