“Taco Bell Faces Legal Troubles: Deceptive Advertising and Employee Theft Scandals” Title: The Debate Surrounding White Collar Crime: A Case Study of Taco Bell’s Legal Troubles

Taco Bell Slammed With Lawsuit Over “Especially Concerning” Advertisements, Allegedly Deceiving Customers
Taco Bell Slammed With Lawsuit Over ‘Especially Concerning’ Advertisements, Allegedly Deceiving Customers The class action lawsuit claims the chain is advertising more than they deliver.
By Emily Rella • Aug 1, 2023
Taco Bell may not be letting its customers Live Más according to a new class action lawsuit — the chain is allegedly doing the opposite by doling out less than promised on two popular menu items.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday in New York Court by Frank Siragusa, alleges that Taco Bell misled customers through “unfair and deceptive trade practices” by providing a much lower amount of beef and cheese in its Crunchwrap Supreme and Grande Crunchwrap menu items.
Photos provided by Siragusa (and embedded in the lawsuit), show Taco Bell advertisements next to photos of the food that he actually received — significantly less filled and smaller inside than the company displays.
“Taco Bell’s advertisements for the Overstated Menu Items are unfair and financially damaging to consumers as they are receiving a product that is materially lower in value than what is being promised,” the lawsuit reads. “Taco Bell’s actions are especially concerning now that inflation, food, and meat prices are very high and many consumers, especially lower income consumers, are struggling financially.”
Other menu items mentioned are the Vegan Crunchwrap and the Mexican Pizza.
The suit is seeking $5 million and believes that compensation is entitled to “all persons or entities that purchased a Crunchwrap Supreme®, Grande Crunchwrap®, Vegan Crunchwrap®, Mexican Pizza, or Veggie Mexican Pizza, from a Taco Bell, located in the state of New York” from July 31, 2020, through the final deposition of the case.
Taco Bell is owned by Yum! Brands, which also oversees fellow fast food chains, KFC and Pizza Hut.
from https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/taco-bell-slammed-with-class-action-lawsuit-over-crunchwraps/456790
Taco Bell Employee Charged With Fraud, Theft After Stealing Customer Credit Card Information
Taco Bell Employee Charged With Fraud, Theft After Stealing Customer Credit Card Information
By Emily Rella • Sep 18, 2023
One Taco Bell employee allegedly tried to ‘Live Más’ by overcharging customers’ credit cards and pocketing the extra cash.
Trevell Mosby, who worked at an Oregon, Ohio, location of the chain, is being accused of identity fraud and theft after multiple customers complained that they were incurring excess charges after he checked them out at the register, sometimes totaling hundreds of dollars.
One couple, Kristin and Crystal Orwig, claim that they frequent the location twice a week and have never had an issue until they noticed it took an abnormally long time for their card to run when Mosby was serving them earlier this month.
“I hand the kid my card and he swipes it,” Kristin Orwig told local outlet ABC 13. “He’s in there for a few minutes and kind of looks over at me because we’re like ‘Where’s my card?’ and he’s like ‘Oh. I’m sorry I’m having trouble with your card, I’m going to have to swipe it.”
After checking their bank statements days later, the couple noticed around $700 in online charges on the card that they handed to Mosby, prompting an investigation by the Oregon Police.
Mosby was found guilty of stealing money from multiple customers and was taken into custody.
Oregon Police stated that customers can’t do much to prevent similar incidents in the future other than opting to use cash to pay when possible, according to ABC 13.
Authorities encourage those who believe their information was compromised to file a police report that includes a copy of their most event bank statement, indicating where the fraudulent charges are.
Taco Bell did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur’s request for comment.
Taco Bell is a part of Yum! Brands, which also oversees popular fast-food chains like KFC and Pizza Hut.
from https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/taco-bell-employee-stole-customers-money-charged-with/459205
Questions:
1. Based on the document at the link “Taco Bell Slammed With Lawsuit Over ‘Especially Concerning’ Advertisements, Allegedly Deceiving Customers,” write a 250- to 500-word essay that presents an argument that Yum! Brands’s activity in this episode is a white collar crime (and specify what kind of white collar crime it is) and an argument that it is not a white collar crime. Your answer must refer to points made by Sutherland, Tappan, and Geis.
2. Based on the document at the link “Taco Bell Employee Charged With Fraud, Theft After Stealing Customer Credit Card Information,” write a 250- to 500-word essay that presents an argument that what happened is a white collar crime and an argument that it is not a white collar crime. Also discuss whether this might be a corporate crime as well as or instead of an occupational crime. Your answer must refer to points made by Sutherland and Shapiro.
With both questions, I don’t care what conclusions you reach about these cases. I want to see that you understand the definitional issues surrounding white collar crime that criminologists have debated over the years, and that you can apply them to real-life instances.
You will have 24 hours to write these essays. You may not use information from the Internet, except for course materials and course readings that you can only access through the Internet.
Test answers that are too long or too short will be lowered using the same standard that is used for paper assignments.
Submit your essays through the link on this page.

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