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7-11 and its franchisees are at it again. This time in Massachusetts. On March 24, 2022, in Patel v. 7-Eleven Inc., the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts [1] held that it is possible for a franchisee to be considered an employee of a franchisor. This issue affects whether franchisees are covered under worker protection laws […]

On December 8, 2021 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments in a case(1) where 7-Eleven franchisees claimed they were actually employees under Massachusetts law. If the 7-Eleven franchisees were employees, then franchisees would be entitled to the protections of Massachusetts employment laws. Starting in federal district court, a putative class of franchisees sued […]

James A. Paone, II and his partner Jay McGovern are proud to present New Jersey Ethics, a roundtable discussion for WestEd. The program covered a variety of topics including the workings of the ethic system with practice pointers and an interactive discussion of how the system works and how to navigate the system. They also […]

Identical bills pending in the New Jersey Legislature propose major changes to the Franchisor – Franchisee relationship in the hospitality industry. Among the provisions of S3762 and A2682 are the following: a. Non-competition agreements for locations outside the county of the franchise location are limited to six months duration. This proposed change would not preclude […]

New Jersey has separate laws regulating the franchise industry and consumer practices. These are the “Franchise Practices Act” (N.J.S.A. §56:10-1, et seq.) and the “New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act” or “NJCFA” (N.J.S.A. §56:8-1, et seq.). Courts have held that franchising is not included under the NJCFA. Reasons include that franchising is a business relationship rather […]

Microgem v. Homecast. Homecast was represented by Alan L. Poliner. When the U.S. switched from analog TV to digital TV, analog sets would become useless for over the air television unless a Set-Top Converter was used. The U.S. had a program for every household to get a coupon for $40 to purchase a Set-Top Converter. […]

In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government expeditiously signed into law historic, temporary measures to provide certain employees mandatory paid sick and family leave if the leave was related to particular COVID-19 related absences from work. The FFCRA’s original qualifying reasons included leave for an employee who is: subject to a […]