Twin Peaks calls Hooters lawsuit against franchisee ‘frivolous’ and ‘baseless’

Randy DeWitt, cofounder and CEO of Twin Peaks restaurant chain, says there’s no merit to a federal lawsuit filed in Atlanta last week by the Hooters of America chain against a new Twin Peaks franchisee called La Cima. The lawsuit claims that former Hooters executive Joe Hummel, now a part of La Cima, took information that would provide Twin Peaks with trade secrets and a competitive advantage, as well as confidential and proprietary business information belonging to Hooters. Twin Peaks is currently renovating the former Osaka Japanese restaurant on Siegen Lane; that location is slated to open in November. Twin Peaks could be described as Hooters-esque, employing an all-female, scantily clad waitstaff and serving guy-friendly dishes such as hamburgers, wings and nachos, along with beer. Jim Clark and Cotton Lloyd have the local franchise. La Cima is a Twin Peaks franchisee that will be opening restaurants in the Southeast. Although Twin Peaks is not specifically named in the suit, DeWitt says he felt it necessary to address the issue because he’s received many media requests for comment. “We think the lawsuit is frivolous and baseless. No one ever offered Twin Peaks any of Hooters’ trade secrets, and it’s ludicrous we would ever want them anyway,” he says. “To think we would benefit from using their trade secrets seems preposterous to me.”