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A Portland-area man who sued Burger King to receive the free Whoppers he was promised after being locked in a restaurant bathroom is getting his sandwiches—or the cost of them, anyway.
The lawyer for Curtis Brooner says Burger King has agreed to settle his lawsuit by paying him $9,026—the cost of one Whopper value meal a week for the next 22 years.
"Our long national nightmare is over," says Portland lawyer Michael Fuller, who represented Brooner in the suit. "Today Burger King agreed to pay our client's demand in exchange for the dismissal of his lawsuit."
Fuller filed a dismissal today in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
Brooner made national news last month when he sued Burger King for allegedly reneging on a promise of free meals for life. In December, a faulty lock trapped Curtis Brooner in the restroom of a Northeast Portland Burger King for an hour. When he emerged, traumatized, a manager promised him the free meals for his trouble.
"It's an honor issue," Brooner told WW, which broke the story of his suit.
Brooner, who lives in Wood Village and works for a FedEx warehouse near the Burger King where he was trapped, began taking the restaurant up on its offer—until Dec. 26, when the restaurant's district office allegedly told employees to stop giving him free meals.
Brooner sued on Jan. 1, demanding the meals or the monetary equivalent. Burger King chose the latter.
The company could not immediately be reached for comment. Brooner declined comment through his lawyer.
"Burger King makes no admission of liability and disputes our client's claims," Fuller tells WW. "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."