3 Key Takeaways | Is Franchising Doomed? The 2024 Version
5 Key Takeaways | Franchising in the USA: Challenges for Latin American Brands
Class Action | Eleventh Circuit Reinstates No Hire Antitrust Claims Against Burger King
Is Franchising Doomed?
Strategies for Negotiating with a Franchisee and Franchisor
Before committing to a franchise business, consider...
The Texas Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision against a franchisor based on a theory of negligence after a customer was assaulted by an employee of the franchisee. The court concluded that franchisor did not owe a...more
On May 2, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court held that a franchisor owes no duty of care for injuries caused by a franchisee’s employee unless the franchisor retained or exercised control over the hiring of that employee....more
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently affirmed a judgment holding Domino’s Pizza vicariously liable for a motorcycle accident involving a franchisee’s delivery driver. Coryell v. Morris, — A.3d —, 2025 Pa. Super. 28...more
The International Franchise Association’s Annual Convention is always filled with useful take home information for franchise practitioners. Last week, I attended the session “Proactive Strategies for Franchisors to Prevent...more
On April 23, 2034, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final rule intended to ban the use and enforcement of most non-compete clauses signed by workers. The new rule is not in effect yet. It will become...more
In Deslandes v. McDonald’s USA LLC, issued August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the dismissal of antitrust claims that challenged no-poach clauses in franchise agreements....more
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
A federal district court in New York dismissed workplace harassment and retaliation claims against corporate affiliates of the Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill franchisor for damages as a result of workplace harassment...more
Arrington v. Burger King Worldwide, Inc., No. 20-13561 (11th Cir. Aug. 31, 2022) – In October 2018, a former line cook of a Burger King franchise restaurant in Illinois, filed a class action complaint in the District Court...more
A federal court recently ruled that 7-Eleven franchise owners are not employees of the franchisor, the latest development in a long-running legal saga challenging their status as independent contractors. However, this...more
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
On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) determined that the Massachusetts independent contractor statute (G. L. c. 149, § 148B) applies within the franchisor-franchisee context and does not...more
California Supreme Court Applies Independent Contractor Standard Retroactively; Does Not Reach Applicability to Franchises - The California Supreme Court has held that its Dynamex decision applies retroactively, answering...more
Welcome to The Franchise Memorandum by Lathrop GPM, formerly known as The GPMemorandum. Since December 1997, The GPMemorandum has been presenting summaries of recent legal developments of interest to franchisors and companies...more
Hoping to clarify when entities should be treated as “joint employers” under the FLSA, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently announced its intent to revise its so-called “joint employer” regulations under the Fair Labor...more
In recent weeks, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has continued to expand his efforts to eradicate the use of no-poach agreements by employers. The targets of his investigation are companies that have included...more
The fight against joint employment of franchisors and franchisees took a small hit when the Western District of Pennsylvania (“Court”) chose to allow a franchisee’s employee’s suit to proceed. In Harris v. Midas, et. al., the...more
Lauded as one of the most important franchise cases in the recent past, Patterson v. Domino’s established a new standard for addressing vicarious liability issues in California. In reaching its decision that Domino’s was not...more
Any time an employer is involved in a franchise relationship, there are bound to be unique issues when legal disputes arise, particularly in the employment context. It is no longer surprising to see the names of any and all...more