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News Briefs
Burger King Franchisee Settles EEOC Lawsuit for Religious Discrimination
In January, a Burger King franchisee settled a lawsuit filed in August 2012 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) on behalf of a former cashier who alleged religious discrimination. The settlement does not include an admission of liability on the part of the franchisee. EEOC v. Fries Rest. Mgmt., LLC, No. 12-3169 (U.S. Dist. Ct., N.D. Tex., Dallas Div., filed Jan. 16, 2013).
Ashanti McShan was hired as a cashier at a Burger King in Grand Prairie, TX, owned by Fries Restaurant Management. During the interview process, she informed the restaurant's manager that, because she is a Pentecostal Christian, she would need to wear a long skirt instead of the pants that are the standard Burger King uniform. Although McShan was initially told that she would be accommodated, the job offer was retracted when she arrived for training.
Fries Restaurant Management agreed to pay $25,000 to McShan, which covered lost wages ($5,000) and claims of mental anguish and suffering ($20,000). The franchisee agreed to post on employee bulletin boards its policy against religious discrimination and information regarding the duty to accommodate. Also, it will conduct training sessions in 2013 and 2014 for all district managers and general managers about federal anti-discrimination laws, with a special emphasis on religious discrimination.
Domino's Franchisee Settles Robo-Call Lawsuit
RPM Pizza LLC, which calls itself the nation's largest franchisee of Domino's Pizza, has settled a lawsuit that alleged that prospective customers in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi received unwanted robo-calls on their cell phones. The $9.75 million settlement includes cash payments of up to $15 for people who received unwanted calls between May 20, 2009 and May 20, 2010, and free large one-topping pizzas for people who received calls between May 20, 2006 and May 19, 2009.
As part of the settlement, RPM Pizza did not admit wrongdoing. Both RPM and the Bohrer Law Firm (Baton Rouge), which filed the lawsuit, are prohibited from commenting on the settlement.
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U.S. Loan Guarantees to Back Franchising in Tunisia
In late January, the International Franchise Association (“IFA”) announced a unique private-public partnership to support the formation of franchise businesses in Tunisia. IFA is joining with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the international development finance arm of the U.S. government, and the Middle East Investment Initiative (“MEII”), a nonprofit organization dedicated to stimulating economic growth and job creation in the region, to develop a credit facility that will partially guarantee loans to Tunisian businesses to enable them to acquire and operate franchises, produce goods and services to supply the franchise businesses, and establish Tunisian businesses as franchisors. The loan guarantees represent the first time that U.S. franchisors will be able to enter a foreign market with the backing of their franchisees by U.S. government funds, according to IFA President and CEO Steve Caldeira.
The partnership will include technical assistance for Tunisian partner banks to build their capacity to effectively lend to franchise businesses and a credit facility managed by MEII.
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VA's Changes to Franchise Rule Effective March 1
Rules to harmonize the Virginia Retail Franchising Act with the guidelines adopted by the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) are effective on March 1. A six-week comment period generated one comment from the International Franchise Association that did not result in any changes to the proposed rules revisions.
Key revisions will require franchisors to use NASAA's Guarantee of Performance form; provide the Franchise Disclosure Document in CD-ROM format; give franchisees copies of each “materially different” FDD used in the last three years; and file amendments to a franchise registration with the securities division when a material change is made (file within 30 days of the change). The rules also prohibit franchisors from using the “seasoned franchisee” exemption if their audit report contains a “going concern” comment.
The rules can be found at www.scc.virginia.gov/srf/bus/franch_regis.aspx.
In January, a
Ashanti McShan was hired as a cashier at a
Fries Restaurant Management agreed to pay $25,000 to McShan, which covered lost wages ($5,000) and claims of mental anguish and suffering ($20,000). The franchisee agreed to post on employee bulletin boards its policy against religious discrimination and information regarding the duty to accommodate. Also, it will conduct training sessions in 2013 and 2014 for all district managers and general managers about federal anti-discrimination laws, with a special emphasis on religious discrimination.
Domino's Franchisee Settles Robo-Call Lawsuit
RPM Pizza LLC, which calls itself the nation's largest franchisee of Domino's Pizza, has settled a lawsuit that alleged that prospective customers in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi received unwanted robo-calls on their cell phones. The $9.75 million settlement includes cash payments of up to $15 for people who received unwanted calls between May 20, 2009 and May 20, 2010, and free large one-topping pizzas for people who received calls between May 20, 2006 and May 19, 2009.
As part of the settlement, RPM Pizza did not admit wrongdoing. Both RPM and the Bohrer Law Firm (Baton Rouge), which filed the lawsuit, are prohibited from commenting on the settlement.
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U.S. Loan Guarantees to Back Franchising in Tunisia
In late January, the International Franchise Association (“IFA”) announced a unique private-public partnership to support the formation of franchise businesses in Tunisia. IFA is joining with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the international development finance arm of the U.S. government, and the Middle East Investment Initiative (“MEII”), a nonprofit organization dedicated to stimulating economic growth and job creation in the region, to develop a credit facility that will partially guarantee loans to Tunisian businesses to enable them to acquire and operate franchises, produce goods and services to supply the franchise businesses, and establish Tunisian businesses as franchisors. The loan guarantees represent the first time that U.S. franchisors will be able to enter a foreign market with the backing of their franchisees by U.S. government funds, according to IFA President and CEO Steve Caldeira.
The partnership will include technical assistance for Tunisian partner banks to build their capacity to effectively lend to franchise businesses and a credit facility managed by MEII.
'
VA's Changes to Franchise Rule Effective March 1
Rules to harmonize the
Key revisions will require franchisors to use NASAA's Guarantee of Performance form; provide the Franchise Disclosure Document in CD-ROM format; give franchisees copies of each “materially different” FDD used in the last three years; and file amendments to a franchise registration with the securities division when a material change is made (file within 30 days of the change). The rules also prohibit franchisors from using the “seasoned franchisee” exemption if their audit report contains a “going concern” comment.
The rules can be found at www.scc.virginia.gov/srf/bus/franch_regis.aspx.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Removing Restrictive Covenants In New York
In Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?
The Benefits of Blockchain for e-Discovery and Data Preservation
As businesses across various industries increasingly adopt blockchain, it will become a critical source of discoverable electronically stored information. The potential benefits of blockchain for e-discovery and data preservation are substantial, making it an area of growing interest and importance.