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Mealey's Franchise

  • July 17, 2024

    Franchisee Seeks Rehearing After Manager’s Disability Bias Claims Reinstated

    ST. PAUL, Minn. — The operator of a number of Hardee’s restaurants in the Midwest seeks a rehearing en banc after a former manager’s disability bias and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) claims were reinstated by a split panel and asks for the rejection of a new test employed by the panel majority for the pretext prong of the McDonnell-Douglas Corp. v. Green framework that was referred to in the dissenting opinion as an “intertwinement test.”

  • July 16, 2024

    Judge Grants Dismissal In FCA Violations Suit Against Calif. Specialty Laboratory

    LOS ANGELES — Without providing explanation, a California federal judge on July 15 granted parties’ joint stipulation of dismissal in a relator’s qui tam suit against a California special laboratory, alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act and similar California statutory provisions for the lab’s role in inducing physicians and offering remuneration to them to refer government-insured patients to the lab.

  • July 10, 2024

    Insurer Disputes Coverage For BIPA Suits Over Food Phone Orders Handled By AI

    CHICAGO — A businessowners insurer filed suit in an Illinois federal court seeking a declaratory judgment that it owes no coverage for two underlying putative class action lawsuits alleging that its insured and two franchise restaurants violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) when they used the insured’s voice artificial intelligence technology to handle phone orders from customers.

  • July 02, 2024

    Visa, Mastercard Credit Card Fee Class Settlement Denied Approval By Federal Judge

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York denied preliminary approval of a class settlement in a nearly two-decade-long case over credit card interchange fees, opining that final approval of the agreement between the equitable relief class of merchants and Visa and Mastercard is unlikely based on concerns with the proposed relief for the class.

  • July 02, 2024

    Split 8th Circuit Reinstates Manager’s Claims From Firing After Diabetic Episode

    ST. PAUL, Minn. — A fast food restaurant manager may proceed with her disability bias and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) lawsuit, a split Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled July 1, opining in part that a jury may conclude that the manager’s diabetic episode that caused her to miss work for two days without notice “was not independent from her firing” that followed.

  • June 25, 2024

    German Real Estate Company Set To Settle Commissions Conspiracy Class Claims

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Proceedings in one of a number of class complaints by home sellers over commissions were stayed by a federal judge in Missouri as they pertain to a German real estate company and its American subsidiary following a notice of pending settlement.

  • June 21, 2024

    Golden Corral Employees File Consolidated Complaint Over 2023 Data Breach

    RALEIGH, N.C. — One month after six lawsuits against Golden Corral Corp. were consolidated in North Carolina federal court, a group of its present and former employees on June 20 filed a consolidated complaint alleging that the restaurant chain acted negligently by not properly protecting their personally identifiable information (PII) from a data breach that they assert could have been avoided if the company had employed proper security measures.

  • June 14, 2024

    N.J. Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Insurer In Suit Brought By Spa Franchise

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals panel on June 13 affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a professional liability insurer in a spa franchise insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying claims that one of its employees perpetuated a sexual act against one of its former customers, concluding that there is no coverage owed because the insured had knowledge about the sexual act before the effective policy date.

  • June 05, 2024

    Objector Appeals Approval Of Commissions Settlements With 3 Real Estate Franchises

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A notice of appeal was filed in a federal court in Missouri by a settlement class member and named plaintiff in two other lawsuits after three class settlements were approved totaling $208.5 million between home sellers and three of the real estate franchises found by a jury to have conspired to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions.

  • May 30, 2024

    Award Terminating Subway Sandwich Shop’s Franchise Contract With Russia Confirmed

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on May 29 confirmed an arbitral award issued after remand in favor of sandwich shop franchise operator Subway International B.V. (SIBV), holding that a franchisor that operated Subway shops in Russia cannot renew its franchise license and that the parties’ agreement was effectively terminated in 2020.

  • May 30, 2024

    Commissions Conspiracy Claims Stayed Against Tenn. Brokerage Due To Pending Pact

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge in Missouri in light of a notice of pending settlement stayed the proceedings against a Tennessee brokerage in a consolidated class case by home sellers accusing the National Association of Realtors (NAR), real estate franchises and brokers of violating the Sherman Act by entering into an agreement to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions.

  • May 24, 2024

    $30M Settlement Between Jan-Pro, Franchisees Granted Final Approval

    SAN FRANCISCO — A $30 million wage-and-hour settlement between Jan-Pro Franchising International Inc. and California cleaning franchisees in a case in which the franchisees alleged that they were misclassified was granted final approval on May 23 by a federal judge in California, who also partially granted and partially denied a motion for attorney fees and service awards.

  • May 23, 2024

    6 Golden Corral Data Breach Suits Consolidated In North Carolina Federal Court

    RALEIGH, N.C.  — Citing “judicial economy” and avoiding “the risk of inconsistent rulings,” a North Carolina federal judge granted a motion to consolidate six putative negligence class actions over a 2023 data breach experienced by Golden Corral Corp., which exposed the personally identifiable information (PII) of the buffet restaurant chain’s employees.

  • May 22, 2024

    On Reconsideration, Judge Dismisses Implied Indemnity Claim Under State Law

    JACKSON, Miss. — Granting a motion for reconsideration and dismissing a third-party complaint with prejudice in a dispute involving a franchisee and commutation of reinsurance, a Mississippi federal judge ruled that “[t]he implied indemnity claim necessarily fails under Mississippi law because it does not seek indemnification for passive negligence.”

  • May 17, 2024

    Burger King Franchisee Seeks Summary Judgment In BIPA Violations Coverage Suit

    CHICAGO — A franchisee of the Burger King chain moved for summary judgment in its breach of contract lawsuit asking an Illinois federal judge to declare that an excess insurer has a duty to defend it against an underlying putative class lawsuit alleging that it violated the Illinois Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA).

  • May 16, 2024

    6 Firms Named Co-Lead Class Counsel In Realty Commissions Conspiracy Case

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge in Missouri granted a motion to appoint six law firms as interim co-lead class counsel in a consolidated case by home sellers accusing the National Association of Realtors (NAR), real estate franchises and brokers of violating the Sherman Act by entering into an agreement to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions; the appointment comes on the heels of a notice of a pending settlement filed by one of the defendants, Redfin Corp.

  • May 14, 2024

    Commissions Settlements With 3 Real Estate Franchises Granted Final Approval

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge in Missouri issued an order granting final approval of three settlements totaling $208.5 million between home sellers and three of the real estate franchises found by a jury to have conspired to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions.

  • May 01, 2024

    Individual Settlement Reached In Papa John’s Website Data Collection Class Suit

    SAN DIEGO — A consumer who filed a putative class complaint accusing Papa John’s International Inc. of violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) through the interception and collection of users’ data on a pizza-ordering webpage filed a notice in a federal court in California stating that he reached an individual settlement.

  • May 01, 2024

    California Chick-fil-A Delivery Price Class Suit Dismissed After Settlement In Ga.

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Chick-fil-A Inc. and a customer who brought a class complaint over the fast food company’s delivery prices filed a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice in a federal court in California after the claims were resolved as part of a settlement approved by a Georgia court in February; the California case had been stayed pending settlement since October 2022.

  • April 30, 2024

    Compass, Douglas Elliman, Others Agree To Settle Commissions Conspiracy Claims

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Home sellers accusing the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and a number of real estate franchisors and brokers of violating the Sherman Act by entering into an agreement to artificially inflate the cost of commissions in residential real estate transactions filed a motion in a federal court in Missouri on April 29 seeking preliminary approval of an up to $96 million settlement with five of the named defendants.

  • April 30, 2024

    HomeServices To Settle Commissions Claims On Heels Of NAR $418M Agreement

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The deadlines and proceedings in a real estate commission conspiracy class lawsuit in a federal court in Missouri that are related to HomeServices of America Inc., BHH Affiliates and HSF Affiliates LLC (together, HomeServices) were stayed in an April 29 docket entry, one business day after HomeServices filed a notice of pending settlement and joint motion to stay; HomeServices’ settlement announcement came three days after a $418 million settlement by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) was preliminarily approved.

  • April 29, 2024

    High Court Won’t Decide ‘Average’ Class Damages Issue In Chili’s Data Breach Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A question about the propriety of using an “average” damages amount suggested by the plaintiffs’ damages expert to certify a class will go unheard by the U.S. Supreme Court, which in its April 29 order list denied a petition for certiorari by the owner of the Chili’s restaurant chain, which protested the possibility that customers who suffered no damages at all in a 2018 data breach would still receive these damages awards.

  • April 25, 2024

    PPP Borrower Appeals SBA Denial Of Loan Forgiveness Based On Initial Ineligibility

    AMARILLO, Texas — In a lawsuit brought by a truck dealer against the federal government challenging the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) determination that the dealer was not initially eligible for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan and thus ineligible for loan forgiveness, the truck dealer on April 24 filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a Texas federal judge’s rulings upholding the SBA’s decision and denying the dealer’s motion to alter or amend the opinion.

  • April 22, 2024

    U.S. High Court Denies Domino’s FAA Petition In Truck Drivers’ Expenses Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 22 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Domino’s Pizza LLC after the company’s truck drivers (D&S drivers) were found by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to be exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) in their class case alleging unreimbursed business expenses and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • April 17, 2024

    Centralization Of Cases Challenging Real Estate Commissions Denied By JPMDL

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) declined to centralize nine cases pending in seven districts brought on behalf of classes of home sellers alleging that rules governing buyer broker compensation violate antitrust laws, opining that pending nationwide class settlements in another case may resolve some of the claims in the nine cases.