Founder Scorches Papa John's for "Pattern of Cover-Up" in Lawsuit Against Former Ad Firm, Laundry Service

LOUISVILLE, Ky., June 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky conducted a hearing in the case of John H. Schnatter v. 247 Group, d/b/a Laundry Service and Wasserman Media Group LLC, during which attorneys for Papa John's International argued to keep 13,000 subpoenaed documents secret from the public following months of delay in producing the materials for the court. John Schnatter, the Papa John's founder and former Chairman and CEO, filed the lawsuit to demonstrate that the company's former ad firm, Laundry Service, damaged him and the company brand when they secretly taped a conference call in which the founder spoke against racism but reversed his meaning and leaked the tape to the media. Discovery in the case shows that the conference call was a set-up designed to sabotage the founder.

Mr. Schnatter issued the following statement in response to the court hearing.

"Papa John's has dragged their feet for months trying to prevent the court from seeing 13,000 documents subpoenaed by Wasserman Media as a part of our litigation. The most troubling thing about it is that this continues a consistent pattern of cover-up by the company since the false attacks against me in 2018. 

"In 2019, Papa John's lost a 220 ruling in a Delaware court, but produced a sparse number of relevant documents following that court order, and now they're fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent disclosures that may reveal the truth about who did what to try to damage me and the company brand. 

"Why would Papa John's try so hard to hide these documents from public view? Could it be that they're hiding something about their possible role in the set-up by our former ad firm, Wasserman Media company 'Laundry Service,' when my comments against racism were secretly taped and their meaning was reversed and leaked to the media?

"With all the revelations in our litigation, the actions by Laundry Service and Papa John's won't stand the light of day. We have the tape which fully exonerates me, and with further revelations, we will know the full truth about Papa John's likely role in this injustice that hurt so many people, including our franchisees and employees."

Reference: Civil Action No. 3:20-cv-000003-CHBCHL

To access materials related to the lawsuit, including the audio recording of the conference call, the transcript from the call, and other highlights, go to: thepapajohnschnatter.com/AudioTape

SOURCE John Schnatter