The Dunkin’ Donuts Bagel Butter Guy Would Get $500
Photo by Mike Mozart on Flickr/Creative Commons
As the highly publicized lawsuits over butter usage on bagels at Dunkin’ Donuts move forward, the man who filed them could be awarded $500.
Jan Polanik had complained that the spread used on his bagels at 23 Massachusetts branches of the chain were slathered not in butter, but in margarine—a cardinal sin in among dairy purists.
According to a settlement filed this week, Polanik’s lawyer would walk away with $90,000 in fees. Everyone else included in the class-action suits— as many as 1,400 people—would be awarded three free buttered Dunkin’ products, according to the terms.
The unusual case has attracted a lot of attention, garnering national coverage, including in the New York Times. According to the Times, the bagel battle is but the latest butter-versus-margarine legal showdowns. The state with the most brutal butter laws? Wisconsin.
In a statement, Dunkin’ Donuts says its locations often stock both butter and margarine. The former comes on the side when requested by a customer. The latter, which can be stored at room temperature and is easier to spread, is used when applied directly to the bagel. The settlement terms, though, would include a requirement that the Dunkin’ Donuts locations would have to serve actual butter on all its bagels for a year. If they intend to use margarine, they would have to say so.
