McDonald's Digs Up Dirt on German Franchisees

Several franchise owners are accusing McDonald's German unit of interogating their employees to nark out where their franchisee employer broke network standards and their franchise agreement.  

Court records show McDonald's hired a team of private detectives to dig up evidence of conflicts of interest against one of the franchisees...

... at least five franchisees say, McDonald's offered corporate jobs to franchise employees in exchange for information needed to terminate franchise holders' contracts or ordered its personnel auditors to collect evidence against them. The restaurant operators say these methods are part of a broad campaign by McDonald's in Germany, one of the company's biggest markets, to reclaim stores held by franchisees and to slow unit growth in a country saturated with fast-food outlets, an allegation McDonald's denies. - WSJ

Hiring secret police to discover franchisee dirt? Conflict meetings? All for the purpose of reclaiming stores. This sounds really familiar. Is Dunkin' Donuts former chief legal officer now working with McDonald's in Germany?