Man sues PepsiCo over alleged invention

Former PepsiCo janitor turned CEO Richard Montañez is suing the company for denying he invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Related Press The lawsuit alleges his career was ruined after the food giant questioned his claims.

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Richard Montañez sues PepsiCo for defamation

Montañez filed his lawsuit on July 10 in California Superior Court. He claims that PepsiCo initially supported him and promoted his story and the film that was made about his invention. However, they later turned against him and sided with former employees who claimed he was not the inventor. Richard is now suing for damages for discrimination, fraud, and libel. The former PepsiCo employee said the company’s stance has hurt his speaking career and other potential opportunities. Richard said a documentary about his life was canceled because of the company’s new stance.

According to the lawsuit, Richard’s story began when he worked for PepsiCo as a janitor at the Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga, California, in 1977. He was the son of Mexican immigrants and grew up in a migrant labor camp. One day, a machine at Montañez’s plant broke down, leaving a batch of unflavored Cheetos. He then took them home. Richard experimented with chili powder to try to recreate the flavor of elote, a popular Mexican toasted corn flavor. After achieving the flavor he wanted, he asked to meet with PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico in 1991 to pitch his spicy Cheetos. Richard believed the Latino community would appreciate the new snack. Enrico agreed to the meeting and liked Montañez’s presentation, the lawsuit says. So he directed the company to develop a new form of Cheetos.

Richard Montañez’s Great Success Then Decline

The lawsuit alleges that PepsiCo sent Richard on speaking engagements and fully supported his claim that he had created the spicy chips. However, he said the company’s research and development departments excluded him from company discussions and testing. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos were introduced to the market in 1992, and Richard said he continued to develop additional snacks such as Flamin’ Hot Popcorn and Lime and Chili Fritos. As a result, he was promoted to director of business development in Southern California. Montañez was eventually promoted to director of PepsiCo. Vice president of multicultural marketing and sales. He was so sought after for his speaking engagements that he left his corporate job in 2019 to become a full-time motivational speaker. Talk about a surprising story! Devon Franklin, Meagan Good’s ex-husband, is produced The 2023 film ‘Flamin’ Hot’ is based on his life.

PepsiCo became a rival of Montañez in 2021 after linking to a Los Angeles Times article claiming he was not involved in creating Flamin’ Hot. Former employees said they were working on spicy snacks when Montañez approached them and that they came up with the name ‘Flamin’ Hot’, not Richard. Weekly Entertainment reported in 2023 that Frito-Lay did not deny the story. However, they stated, “Some of the information we shared with the media was misinterpreted.” Furthermore, the company said this “…leading to confusion about our location” and placed a “strain our precious friendship with Richard Montañez…” Furthermore, the brand said Richard “is an important part of [their] history” and give him some credit “success.”

The company should clarify their statement because Richard seemed angry that they were playing with his name.

Associated Press writer Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this article.

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