A U.S. District Court judge has granted food supplier US Foods default judgment in its July lawsuit against Boston Market for unpaid bills, starting in 2022. Although Judge Manish Shah explained that default judgment is a “harsh sanction,” in this case both the court and plaintiffs had no choice because Boston Market had “intentionally dodged their obligations to the court” in a display of “bad faith to avoid this case.”
US Foods’ $11.3 million lawsuit was the most high-profile and expensive lawsuit among the many filed against Boston Market over the past couple of years. According to the lawsuit, Boston Market “began to fall significantly behind in its payment obligations to US Foods” beginning in 2022 and secured a promissory note-based payment schedule from the struggling restaurant chain. However, US Foods claims that Boston Market still failed to keep up with the agreed payment schedule and as such, owed the company $10.5 million in accrued debt, as well as $800,000 in interest.
