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Employer Liability Issues Employment Litigation Franchises

Foley & Lardner LLP

Court Holds Franchisor Could Be Liable for Workplace Abuse Experienced by Franchisee’s Employee

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A federal court recently denied a franchisor’s motion to dismiss a workplace-abuse lawsuit filed by its franchisee’s employee because the employee stated a claim upon which relief could be granted under Federal Rule of Civil...more

Polsinelli

Landmark Texas Supreme Court Case Finds No “Direct Liability” for Franchisor Arising Out of Franchisee Employee’s Actions

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On May 2, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court reversed a Texas Court of Appeals’ decision that had affirmed a jury’s verdict finding a franchisor directly liable to the customer of a franchisee for actions undertaken by the...more

Lathrop GPM

Maine Federal Court Grants Franchisor’s Motion to Dismiss Age Discrimination Claim Brought by Franchisee’s Independent Contractor

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A federal court in Maine granted a franchisor’s motion to dismiss claims asserting that a franchisor was liable for its franchisee’s alleged age discrimination in employment. Goodwill v. Anywhere Real Est., 2023 WL 4034372...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Eleventh Circuit Serves a Whopper of a Ruling on Franchisor’s ‘No-Poach’/‘No-Hire’ Agreement With Franchisees

​​​​​​​Over the last several years, business-to-business “no-hire” and “no-poach” agreements have come under legal attack, including through enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission and criminal prosecutions by the...more

Littler

Massachusetts Top Court Issues Key Ruling Impacting Independent Contractors

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On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) handed down a key ruling that could have a significant impact on franchising across the state. In Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc., the SJC was asked whether the...more

Snell & Wilmer

The NLRB Just Made It Harder To Lasso Franchisors And Affiliated Businesses For The Alleged Sins Of Their Compatriots

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In 2015, the NLRB adopted a more relaxed standard for determining when an entity could be considered a joint employer and thus liable for alleged workplace wrongs along with a direct employer. Of course the result of the...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Doing Business in 2020: Courts Tackle Employment Law

Part 2: New Employment-Related Court Decisions Impacting California’s Public and Private Entities - California and federal courts handed down a number of labor and employment-related decisions last year, impacting...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Financial Daily Dose 1.8.2020 | Top Story: Speaker Company Sonos Sues Google for Patent Infringement

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Home speaker maker Sonos has sued Google, accusing the company of “infringing on five of its patents, including technology that lets wireless speakers connect and synchronize with one another.” Sonos had originally partnered...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

McDonald’s Fries Franchise Workers’ Claims, Lands Whopper of a Ruling for Franchisors

In an important wage-and-hour decision for franchisors, Salazar, et al. v. the McDonald’s Corp., et al., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that employees of one of the hamburger giant’s California-based franchisees...more

Littler

Highest Court in Canada Says Substance, not Form, will Determine Independent Contractor or Employee Status

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A recent Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decision considered whether a franchisee who entered into a franchise agreement with a franchisor was an employee or an independent contractor. The fact-specific case, Modern Cleaning...more

FordHarrison

Judge Refuses To Dismiss Domino’s Collective Action Without Seeing Settlement Agreement

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On May 17, 2019, Judge Renee Marie Bumb of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey rejected the parties’ request to dismiss a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) lawsuit without the Judge’s review of the...more

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation

Ninth Circuit “Cleans House” in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Decision by Holding ABC Test Applies Retroactively and Opining on Its Effect on...

On May 2, 2019, the Ninth Circuit in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int’l, Inc. held that the California Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court applied retroactively. ...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Ninth Circuit Bolsters Franchisee Wage Misclassification Claims Against Franchisors

On May 2, 2019, the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling that has wide implications for California franchisors who rely on independent contractor relationships. In a unanimous decision, the Ninth Circuit held that the more rigid ABC...more

Carlton Fields

Don’t Count Your Chickens – Or State Citizens For CAFA Exceptions – Before They Hatch

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The Ninth Circuit vacated a remand order implicating the local and home-state controversy exceptions to CAFA jurisdiction in a putative class action by former California resident employees of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for...more

Carlton Fields

Eleventh Circuit Reverses NLRB Order, Enforcing Individualized Arbitration Clause In Employee Agreement

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A pizza delivery driver employed by Domino’s Pizza franchisee Cowabunga Inc. filed a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act with the National Labor Relations Board. ...more

Polsinelli

Anti-Poaching Provisions in Franchise Agreements Are Drawing Increased Scrutiny

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Franchise agreements often contain provisions prohibiting the franchisee from soliciting or hiring workers employed by the franchisor or other franchisees. Such “anti-poaching” agreements have recently come under increased...more

Polsinelli

An End to the McDonald’s Joint Employer NLRB Litigation

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The new General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“Labor Board”), Peter Robb, continues to reshape the agency with his vision. Consistent with his January 2018 promise to consider “settlements of any kind that...more

Fisher Phillips

March Misclassification Madness: Misclassification Updates in the Gig Economy

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Many of you likely have filled out your March Madness bracket, and are eagerly watching game after game hoping your bracket doesn’t bust. The gig misclassification game is experiencing a March Madness of its own. The debate...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Extra Credit: Franchise Restaurant Workers Clear Path To Massive Payout On Technicality Under New York Law

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Seyfarth Synopsis: Tipped workers who didn’t receive notice of the tip credit get a win under New York state minimum wage law in a case that echoes technical traps we have seen in FLSA decisions. ...more

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