A San Francisco franchisee of the It’s Just Lunch matchmaking system received an offer to buy the franchised business for about $146,000 with the final price to be determined. Under the offer, the actual purchase price would...more
An area developer entered into three agreements with a pizza franchisor and developed 50 franchises in Texas. The franchisor, Pizza Inn, Inc., tried to terminate all three contracts, though each had a twenty-year initial term...more
A federal court in New Hampshire found a multi-unit operator of five Planet Fitness gyms plausibly alleged the franchisor interfered with its business relationships and denied Planet Fitness’ motion for judgment on the...more
A federal court in Louisiana granted a preliminary injunction against a former franchisee of Liberty Tax Service for breaching post-termination covenants under a franchise agreement.
Liberty Tax entered into franchise...more
A federal district court denied KFC’s defensive summary judgment motion, enabling its franchisee to go to trial on claims against KFC for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by opening a competing...more
A Louisiana appellate court affirmed a trial court’s finding that there was a signed franchise agreement between the parties even though the franchisor could not produce the signed original.
Brooke and Michael Hyde decided...more
A franchisee sued real estate franchisor Century 21 for a declaration whether the franchisee could end its franchise agreement early despite a provision that deleted the franchisee’s early termination right. Noting the...more
On competing motions for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) by ReBath – a nationwide bathroom remodeling franchisor, and its terminated franchisee, ReBath prevailed in restraining the ex-franchisee’s further operations. A...more
6/30/2021
/ Breach of Contract ,
Contract Termination ,
Counterclaims ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Failure To Pay ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Implied Covenants ,
Lowe's ,
Royalties ,
TRO
In the last year, we reviewed three attacks on franchising, questioned whether franchising was in the crosshairs of federal regulators and legislators, and concluded that the answer was yes....more
California Assembly Bill 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Recovery Act or AB 257) was defeated by the California Assembly on June 3, 2021. The bill was introduced by Assembly Member Lorena...more
A group of franchisees sued OsteoStrong, a franchisor of bone density improvement centers. They claimed omissions in the FDD about bankruptcies and lawsuits, and misrepresentations of patent rights to equipment and...more
6/1/2021
/ Breach of Contract ,
Civil Liability ,
Criminal Liability ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Irreparable Harm ,
Medical Devices ,
Preliminary Injunctions
California Assembly Bill 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act is currently pending in the California Legislature, introduced by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez....more
A Minnesota federal court ruled in favor of a franchise broker on summary judgment. The court dismissed misrepresentation claims brought by a military veteran who alleged unlawful inducement to invest in a failed kickboxing...more
Earlier this year, we questioned whether franchising was in the crosshairs of federal regulators and legislators. It appears that the answer may be a resounding yes....more
An insurance coverage case brought by McDonald’s and two of its franchisees (collectively, “McDonald’s”), raised a novel question in Illinois state court. The question was whether or not costs to comply with a mandatory...more
4/30/2021
/ Bodily Injury ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Damages ,
Duty to Defend ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Health and Safety ,
Injunctions ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
McDonalds ,
Negligence ,
Public Nuisance
A federal court in Connecticut ruled against an urgent care franchisor’s motion to dismiss, finding the plaintiff had standing to sue under Article III of the U.S. Constitution. The court still dismissed the plaintiff’s...more
4/29/2021
/ Article III ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Dismissals ,
Forum Selection ,
Franchise Acts ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisors ,
Goods or Services ,
Sherman Act ,
Standing ,
Successor Interests
A federal court in Michigan granted 7-Eleven’s motion for summary judgment, enforcing the franchisor’s right to terminate a franchisee with repeated defaults, even though each default had been cured.
7-Eleven’s franchise...more
A federal court in California certified a class of Matco Tools franchisees who claimed to be misclassified by Matco as independent contractors rather than employees. They claimed Matco did this to avoid obligations owed to...more
An updated rule issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) will again change when most franchisors can recognize revenue in their financial statements from the sale of their franchises and their collection of...more
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a $2.6 million award of liquidated damages in favor of a pizza franchisor and a summary judgment order enforcing termination of franchise agreements due to nonpayment and...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a trial court judgment against a Texas franchisor, finding the lower court erred in excusing an untimely renewal notice of area development agreements. The Court held a...more
2/1/2021
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Contract Renewal ,
Contract Terms ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Development Agreements ,
Failure to Notify ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Late Notices ,
Notice of Intent ,
Reversal
In 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the ABC Test announced in a California Supreme Court decision, Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal.5th 903 (2018) could apply to franchise...more
Lola Salamah and Amro Elsayed signed a franchise agreement with M.M. Fowler, Inc., the franchisor of Family Fare gas stations, to operate a gas station franchise in North Carolina.
A few years into the franchise...more
Franchisors faced unprecedented challenges in 2020. Enactment of California’s Assembly Bill 5 on January 1, 2020 was just the tip of an iceberg. As the COVID-19 pandemic upended franchise systems across all industries,...more
A federal court in Denver granted Fitness Together Franchise, LLC a preliminary injunction against the owner of three former franchisees, three former franchisee entities and three additional entities formed to operate a...more