News & Analysis as of August 3, 2025

Hiring & Firing › Franchisee

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Hiring & Firing refers to the process of recruiting, interviewing and offering employment and the process of evaluating performance and dismissing employees. Hiring & Firing is a highly regulated area and can create tremendous liability for employers who fail to properly adhere to acceptable employment practices. Some of the potential pitfalls in this area stem from discriminatory hiring practices, improper performance evaluations, and retaliatory firings. less -

Franchisor 101: Duty of Care

Lewitt Hackman on 6/27/2025

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

7-Eleven Franchisees Are Not Employees Under Massachusetts Law: 5 Tips to Ensure Compliance After Latest Ruling

Fisher Phillips on 10/1/2024

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) just delivered a win for franchisor-franchisee relationships. Specifically, the court held that 7-Eleven franchisees are not performing a “service” for their franchisor, meaning...more

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Upholds 7-Eleven Franchise System in Denying Franchisees’ Challenge to Their Independent...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 9/25/2024

On September 5, 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) answered a second certified question in Patel, et al. v. 7-Eleven, Inc., et al. (“Patel II”), a long-running case where 7-Eleven franchisees claimed they...more

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules 7-Eleven Franchisees Are Not Employees

Foley Hoag LLP on 9/17/2024

On September 5, 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) ruled in Patel v. 7-Eleven that 7-Eleven franchisees are not employees of the franchisor under the independent contractor statute. The SJC looked beyond...more

Navigating the New Terrain - NLRB's New Joint Employment Standard

Quarles & Brady LLP on 11/6/2023

On October 26, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a final rule on joint employment, reversing its previous standard set in 2020. Employers that have potential control or influence over another entity’s...more

[Webinar] What is Happening at the NLRB? What Companies Should Know - October 24th, 10:00 am - 11:00 am PT

CDF Labor Law LLP on 10/6/2023

Join CDF partners John Giovannone and Carolina Schwalbach for a one-hour in-depth review of the recent McLaren Macomb, Cemex and Stericycle NLRB decisions and their potential impact on union and non-union employers. If you...more

Seventh Circuit Rejects Dismissal of Franchisee No-Poach Clause Challenge

Quarles & Brady LLP on 9/5/2023

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

Franchisor 101: Salon Franchisor Weaved into Joint Employment Claims

Lewitt Hackman on 6/30/2023

A Michigan federal district court denied a franchisor’s motion to dismiss claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Michigan law, and claims alleging retaliatory termination and sexually hostile work...more

Tennessee Federal Court Grants Franchisor’s Motion to Dismiss Claims for Negligent Hiring of Franchisee

Lathrop GPM on 5/9/2023

A federal court in Tennessee recently granted a franchisor’s motion to dismiss claims alleging that a franchisor was liable for a workplace mass shooting by a franchisee. Fernald v. JFE Franchising, Inc., 2023 WL 2938312...more

Eleventh Circuit Revives Putative Class Action Against Burger King for Violation of Federal Antitrust Laws Based on No-Poaching...

Bilzin Sumberg on 11/14/2022

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

7-Eleven Franchise Owners Not Deemed Employees Under Massachusetts Law

Fisher Phillips on 10/26/2022

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

Franchisor 101: All the King’s Poachers

Lewitt Hackman on 9/30/2022

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

Massachusetts SJC Holds that Independent Contractor Statute Applies to Franchisees

Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP on 4/1/2022

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

Franchisor 101: Preemption Preempted

Lewitt Hackman on 3/31/2022

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

Labor Department Rescinds Pro-Franchise Joint-Employment Rule

Polsinelli on 8/9/2021

On July 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it is rescinding a final rule issued just last year (2020 Final Rule) that sought to clarify the standard for finding two separate entities to be “joint employers”...more

NLRB Announces Final Rule On Joint Employer Standard

Husch Blackwell LLP on 3/2/2020

Key points- • On February 26, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board issued its final rule on the joint employer standard limiting the imposition of joint employer status to businesses that exercise substantial, direct...more

The Department of Labor’s 2020 Vision: The New Joint Employer Standard under the Fair Labor Standards Act

Foley & Lardner LLP on 2/6/2020

A significant amount of legal activity has taken place recently in the area of joint employment. Joint employment exists when more than one entity is deemed to be a worker’s employer. Typically, a direct employer and a...more

The Relationship Talk: DOL Issues New Rules on Joint Employer Status

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 12/20/2019

When do your business relationships make you a joint employer? Fortunately, the DOL recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with changes to regulations regarding when two or more entities should be treated as...more

The Latest: DOJ Distinguishes ‘No-Poach’ Agreements

McDermott Will & Emery on 3/15/2019

WHAT HAPPENED: • The Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in three related cases in the Eastern District of Washington yesterday dealing with alleged “no-poach” (or non-solicitation) agreements between...more

US DOJ Adds Complexity to Enforcement of “No-Poach” Agreements under Antitrust Law

McDermott Will & Emery on 3/14/2019

On Thursday, March 7, the Antitrust Division intervened in three antitrust class actions to urge the court that no-poach agreements between vertically related firms, such as between franchisor and franchisee, should be...more

No-Poach Update: DOJ Seeks to Rein In Franchise Suits

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 2/12/2019

Evolving antitrust treatment of so-called “no-poach” agreements continues to offer important guidance for company counsel and human resources professionals. Over the past two years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has...more

Supershuttle Transports Independent Contractor Status into the Spotlight

FordHarrison on 1/31/2019

On January 25, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) affirmed the Acting Regional Director’s determination that franchisees who drive for SuperShuttle are independent contractors, not statutory employees, and...more

Back to the Future (Again): NLRB Returns to Traditional Independent Contractor Test

Polsinelli on 1/31/2019

On January 25, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) in SuperShuttle DFW, Inc. (367 NLRB No. 75), overruled the Obama-era 2014 FedEx Home Delivery (361 NLRB 610) decision and returned to its traditional...more

Legal Challenges to No-Poach Provisions in Franchise Agreements

Troutman Pepper Locke on 1/8/2019

Over the last 18 months, no-poach provisions in franchise agreements have drawn considerable attention from academics, state attorneys general, politicians, and the class action plaintiffs’ bar. Originally published in...more

Spotlight on No-Poach Agreements Continues, Expands to New Industries

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 10/18/2018

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

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Hiring & Firing › Franchisee

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