The Franchise Memorandum

A federal court in Georgia recently dismissed the claims of an alleged human trafficking victim against hotel franchisor G6 Hospitality, while allowing some claims to proceed against the hotel franchisee. Doe (K.B.) v. G6 Hosp., LLC, 2023 WL 8650785 (N.D. Ga. Dec. 14, 2023).

A federal court in North Carolina has held that considerations of judicial economy required that litigation of nonarbitrable claims should be stayed pending completion of a related arbitration. Medical Search Consultants, LLC v. Pasture Gate Holdings, Inc., 2023 WL 8532400 (W.D.N.C. Dec. 8, 2023).

A state appellate court in California reversed a superior court’s denial of a massage franchisor’s motion to compel arbitration. Jane Doe #1 (I.G.) v. Massage Envy Franchising, LLC, 2023 WL 8801517 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 20, 2023).

A federal court in California denied a franchisor’s motion to dismiss a consumer’s claims for a violation of the unfair-practices prong of California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and unjust enrichment. Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC, 2023 WL 8852754 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 21, 2023).

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed in part, and vacated in part, a district court’s issuance of an injunction preventing a franchisor’s enforcement of a noncompete covenant as written but allowing enforcement of the covenant as modified, or “blue penciled,” by the court. Baldwin v. Express Oil Change, LLC, 87 F.4th 1292 (11th Cir. 2023).

A federal court in Maryland recently granted a motion for class certification by consumers who brought negligence, breach of contract, and consumer protection claims against hotel franchisor Marriott International and data security company Accenture. In re Marriott Int'l Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig., 2023 WL 8247865 (D. Md. Nov. 29, 2023).

As part of Lathrop GPM’s Increasing Diversity in Franchising initiative, we have explored various facets of increasing diversity in franchising, including access to capital, educational initiatives that focus on business in general and franchising specifically, franchise issues for prospective franchisees, outreach through diverse professional organizations, and franchisor DEI goals and programs. We want to drill down and focus on individual franchisors and their brand-specific DEI initiatives. Let’s turn to real estate brokerage franchise Keller Williams.