A Message Regarding Racial Inequality: Faegre Drinker is deeply affected by the disturbing and terrible events surrounding the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks. While these...more
With COVID-19 changing everything we do in our personal and business lives, franchisors are faced with all the same challenges as other businesses, but also several unique twists due to the nature of franchising. Franchising...more
With COVID-19 changing everything we do in our personal and business lives, franchisors are faced with all the same challenges as other businesses, but also several unique twists due to the nature of franchising. Franchising...more
A business is a joint employer of another employer’s employees only if the two employers share or codetermine the employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment, according to a recently unveiled and long-awaited...more
On January 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its highly anticipated Final Rule regarding joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Final Rule was published in the Federal...more
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5) on September 18, 2019, which adopts the “ABC test” for certain California employment laws. Soon after, on September 24, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th...more
Franchisors should review their franchise agreements and practices to ensure they do not retain or exercise control over the particular aspects of their franchisees’ employment practices in light of a recent decision...more
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
After the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) changed its joint employer standard in August 2015, two likely avenues to repeal that change emerged: Congress and the courts. In September of that year, congressional...more
On March 10, 2017, a federal court in California granted summary judgment in favor of McDonald’s and dismissed joint employment claims that had been brought against it by employees of one of its franchisees. In Salazar v....more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have been coordinating attacks on the franchise business model. These activities were a primary focus for all attendees at the May...more
In Thomas v. Taco Bell Corp.,[3] a franchisee association planned a promotion in which text messages were sent to 17,000 people in the Chicago area to promote a local sweepstakes contest. The lower court dismissed the case...more
On August 28, 2014, the California Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in favor of Domino's Pizza and all business format franchisors that do business in California. In Patterson v. Domino's Pizza, LLC, ---P.3d---, 2014 WL...more