From the LA Times: Mattel, the company behind Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price and Barbie, pledged in 2017 to donate $49 million to UCLA to support its children’s hospital. But now the hospital says Mattel never came through with the money. According to a new lawsuit, the El Segundo toy company made “the inexplicable decision a few short years later to renege on that pledge” and is now trying to offer the pediatric hospital just a few million dollars, plus a bunch of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars and other in-kind donations.
The suit, filed last week on behalf of the regents of the University of California and the UCLA Foundation, accuses Mattel of breach of contract for going back on its giving pledge and is seeking the full amount of the original pledge, plus damages for alleged financial difficulty stemming from the company’s decision to back out of its giving plan.
“As a last resort, UCLA Health has taken legal action to compel Mattel Inc. to honor its $49 million pledge,” UCLA Health spokesperson Phil Hampton wrote in a statement. “Litigation is not the University’s preferred path. UCLA Health made multiple good-faith attempts to resolve this matter through meaningful dialogue, and those efforts were unsuccessful.”
“We are hopeful that an alternative resolution can be found through dialogue grounded in respect for a relationship of more than 25 years and in pursuit of a shared interest: the care and well-being of children,” Hampton added.
Mattel, in a statement, disputed UCLA’s claim that it had breached its contractual obligations...
Full story at https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-11-14/ucla-sues-mattel-for-allegedly-reneging-on-childrens-hospital-donation.
No comments:
Post a Comment