The businessman who was forced to shut down 44 Baton Rouge- and New Orleans-area Pizza Hut restaurants in a legal dispute with the parent company is fighting back in court. Larry Lundy’s company filed a counterclaim Monday. He seeks unspecified monetary damages plus attorney fees in his response to a federal lawsuit filed weeks ago in Dallas by Pizza Hut Inc. Pizza Hut claims in the suit that Lundy Enterprises failed to pay royalty and advertising fees on time. Pizza Hut also claims that it tried to help Lundy Enterprises negotiate with creditors but that Lundy failed to provide needed information. In his counterclaim, Lundy makes numerous charges: among them, that Pizza Hut acted in bad faith and broke franchise agreements. He claims the company hampered his profitability while it tried to squeeze him out of the market.
Pizza Hut shut down Lundy’s restaurants last month. The company says it will spend $10 million over the next year and half to establish state-of-the-art restaurants in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
