010640 Burger King Loses Australian Court BattleJune 23, 2001Sydney, Australia - Fast-food restaurant concern Burger King has been ordered to pay about $39 million to a franchisee for trying to take a bigger bite of the Australian burger market. The New South Wales state court of appeal upheld most of an earlier state Supreme Court decision which found the U.S chain wrongly terminated a 1990 development agreement with local chain Hungry Jack's. Justices Charles Sheller, Margaret Beazley and Paul Stein ordered Burger King to pay damages to Hungry Jack's. Founded in Perth in 1971 by Jack Cowin, Hungry Jack's was the first Australian franchisee of the Burger King Corp., the second largest hamburger chain in the world. Hungry Jack's now has some 180 outlets in Australia. Cowin sued Burger King after it attempted to persuade franchisees to change from the Hungry Jack's brand to Burger King. The Miami-based chain has more than 50 Burger King-branded outlets in Australia. In a statement, Burger King said Friday it was disappointed that the court “did not find in favor of the company in regard to the issue of liability.” The court overturned $930,000 in damages originally awarded to Hungry Jack's for loss of sales at its stores when Burger King opened outlets nearby.
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