A federal court in Wisconsin ruled that Dairy Queen did not breach a 1952 franchise agreement with a franchisee by requiring a prospective buyer of the franchise to sign an updated franchise agreement.
Dairy Queen and a...more
A federal court in Florida dismissed an action by franchisees against their franchisor for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
The franchisees asserted claims under California and Florida laws alleging the franchisor, OR...more
A federal appellate court held that Burger King and its franchisees may violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act (antitrust) by engaging in concerted action when entering into “no-hire” agreements. The appellate court reversed...more
A Tim Hortons franchisee sued the franchisor for breach of six franchise agreements and an area development agreement. Tim Hortons counterclaimed for breach of contract based on failure by the franchisee to meet the...more
A trash collection business brought claims against a franchisor and franchisee of Smash My Trash, a mobile waste compacting brand. The business, Republic Services of Kansas City, claimed the defendants wrongfully solicited...more
A federal district court in California granted a franchisor’s motion to transfer venue of claims brought by non-California franchisees to Texas. The ruling was based on a forum selection clause in the franchise agreements....more
Assembly Bill 257 and Senate Bill 1247 are now pending in the California legislature. Their passage could intrude on franchisors’ and franchisees’ abilities to conduct business in California....more
A federal district court in Nevada partly denied a franchisor’s summary judgment motion on claims brought by a franchisee.
IJL Midwest entered into several franchise agreements with a franchisor of a dating and...more
A federal district court denied a motion for preliminary injunction brought by pizza franchisor, Breadeaux’s Pisa, LLC, seeking to stop a former franchisee from operating a competing pizza business.
The franchise agreement...more
A Delaware court found a yoga studio franchisee was entitled to an order requiring the franchisor to buy all of the franchisee’s yoga studios in six states. The court held the franchisor breached its contractual obligation...more
After obtaining a temporary restraining order, Freedom Franchise Systems (“Freedom”), the franchisor of a boat-club business, was denied a preliminary injunction to stop a former franchisee prospect from using claimed trade...more
A deaf customer brought an Americans with Disability Act (“ADA”) suit against Yum! Brands, Inc. (“Yum!”), parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit brands, and a franchisee. The lawsuit claimed failure to...more
Zubair Kazi operated a KFC franchise in Pueblo, Colorado since the 1980s. In 2019, KFC approved another individual to open a KFC restaurant in Pueblo. Kazi sued, claiming KFC breached its implied duty of good faith and fair...more
Patel v. 7-Eleven, a case in Massachusetts, has been closely watched since the ABC test took hold of franchise relationships in employee misclassification cases across the country.
A putative class of 7-Eleven franchisees...more
3/31/2022
/ 7-Eleven ,
ABC Test ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
FTC Franchise Rule ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court ,
Misclassification ,
Preemption ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Right to Control
On March 16, 2022, the U.S. Senate Small Business Committee held a hearing on the Small Business Administration’s future on guaranteeing lenders’ loans to franchisees under S.1120, the Small Business Administration Franchise...more
A California federal court denied Mountain Mike’s Pizza a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) against one of its franchisees who did not renew its franchise agreement and opened a new restaurant under a different name.
In...more
A federal court in Virginia denied tax franchisor, Liberty Tax’s, motion to dismiss complaints by two of its area developers (“ADs”). The ADs claimed Liberty Tax breached their contract for wrongfully terminating, failing to...more
2/28/2022
/ Breach of Contract ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Renewal ,
Contract Termination ,
Contract Terms ,
Development Agreements ,
Failure To Pay ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Royalties ,
Wrongful Termination
On January 31, 2022, the California State Assembly passed AB 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Recovery Act, or the “Act”) by a vote of 41-19. The bill was originally introduced in January...more
A federal appellate court declined to enforce a choice-of-forum clause finding enforcement would conflict with Michigan’s Franchise Investment Law (“MFIL”).
Lakeside Surfaces, Inc., a maker of stone countertops, sued...more
An Indiana federal court granted hamburger and milkshake franchisor, Steak n Shake, a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) against a franchisee to enforce post-termination obligations under franchise and area development...more
A Georgia district court declined to dismiss a breach of contract case by a hotel franchisor against a franchisee. The court rejected the franchisee’s argument that the franchisor waived its rights under the parties’ license...more
A franchisee sued its franchisor, OsteoStrong Franchising, LLC, in Texas federal court after OsteoStrong terminated the franchise and development agreements. Termination occurred after the franchisee failed to timely develop...more
A hotel franchisee brought a class action lawsuit in Louisiana federal court on behalf of Louisiana franchisees. The franchisor moved to transfer the action to Georgia, based on the mandatory forum selection clause in the...more
According to the Los Angeles Times, fast-food workers at McDonald’s restaurants in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose intend to walk off their jobs on November 9 in support of the passage of California...more
Past and present franchisees of commercial cleaning service franchisor, Jani-King, brought claims for violation of Connecticut minimum wage and anti-kickback laws, and unjust enrichment. They claimed Jani-King misclassified...more
11/1/2021
/ Appeals ,
Dismissals ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Service Agreements ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Wage and Hour