3 Key Takeaways | Is Franchising Doomed? The 2024 Version
One Month to More Effective Compliance on Business Ventures - Day 19 - Franchisor Compliance
Is Franchising Doomed?
Strategies for Negotiating with a Franchisee and Franchisor
Day 20 of One Month to More Effective Compliance for Business Ventures-Franchisor Liability
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
A Maryland federal district court denied a restaurant franchisor’s motion to dismiss, concluding that a restaurant manager at a franchised location alleged sufficient facts to support a finding that the franchisor is a joint...more
A Texas court of appeals affirmed judgment in favor of a plaintiff who claimed a franchisor was vicariously liable for a franchisee’s employee’s wrongful conduct....more
On November 9, 2023, a coalition of business advocacy groups led by the US Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas challenging the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”)...more
Do you use a staffing agency to provide workers for your day-to-day operations? Are you a franchisor that licenses your trademark and business model to franchisees? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions,...more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
A Texas appeals court affirmed a lower court judgment in favor of Pizza Hut and its franchisee for claims of an alleged sexual assault by a delivery driver. The appellate court held Pizza Hut was not liable for the...more
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
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule to rescind a Trump administration joint-employer rule. The joint-employer rule attempted to treat companies, like McDonald’s and FedEx, as joint employers of franchise...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has published its final rule governing determination of joint-employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), restoring the standard that was applied for several...more
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
Effective March 16, 2020, employers will be able to use a four-factor balancing test in determining joint employment status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), based on the new final rule adopted by the Department of...more
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
As a follow up to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in April 2019, the US Department of Labor (DOL) announced on January 12, 2020, the issuance of a Final Rule to revise and clarify the standard for joint employment...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The third key trend from our 16th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report involves governmental enforcement litigation, including an overview of priorities and filings by the EEOC, the U.S....more
On Thursday, January 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) published in the Federal Register the much-anticipated Final Rule regarding joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards...more
On January 16, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule that brings much-needed clarity to employers on how to determine “joint employer” status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when an employee...more
Washington State’s Attorney General settled a case against sandwich franchisor, Jersey Mike’s, over antipoaching provisions in its franchise agreements. Since 2018, Washington State has made agreements with more than 60...more
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