A Burger King customer has received a settlement of exactly US$9,026.16 – the value of one meal every week for the rest of his expected life. Portland resident Curtis Brooner took Burger King to court in January after they apparently reneged on a deal to allow him to dine for free.
“Our long national nightmare is over,” said lawyer Michael Fuller, who represented Brooner. “Today Burger King agreed to pay our client's demand in exchange for the dismissal of his lawsuit.”
The deal came about after Brooner got trapped in the bathroom due to a faulty lock. After an hours-long ordeal, during which Brooner alleges that staff made fun of him and only offered a fly swatter to help him unpick the lock, Brooner claims that the manager of the restaurant offered him free meals whenever he ate at the branch.
To the manager’s credit, he followed through on the deal for several weeks until December 26, when the restaurant’s district office told the West Portland branch to stop.
“Mr. Brooner is 50 years old,” the lawsuit claimed. “A Burger King Whopper Meal costs $7.89. Assuming Mr. Brooner lives to be 72 years old and consumes on average one Burger King Whopper Meal per week for the rest of his life, the value of Burger King's agreement to Mr. Brooner is $9,026.16. If the Court will not require Burger King's specific performance under the agreement, Mr. Brooner instead requests judgment for $9,026.16 against Burger King, which is the value of the lifetime supply of Burger King meals that he was promised.”
“Burger King makes no admission of liability and disputes our client's claims,” Fuller said after the agreement has been reached. “Nonetheless, Burger King has agreed to pay our client $9,026.16, which will allow him to buy one Burger King Whopper Meal per week for the rest of his life.”
