FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Big O Tires litigation history
What Big O Tires disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.
Items 3 & 4 at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 3
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $2.0M
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2025
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
3 prior actions disclosed: (1) Fratilla v. Big O Tires class action re tire protection program; settled $2.05M. (2) TBC Retail Group Wage and Hour Cases JCCP 4701; settled $1.84M. (3) Black Donuts et al. franchisee fraud/breach claims; settled with nominal payment. Also 1 administrative action (People of CA v. Big O Tires re advertising, $25K penalty, permanent injunction).
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Active multi-front litigation including franchisee misrepresentation claims that directly undermine trust in franchisor disclosures
- Three separate class action lawsuits (tire protection program, wage/hour violations at company stores, and franchisee false representations) suggest systemic operational or disclosure issues
The verdict grade is FranchiseVerdict's editorial assessment across SBA loan performance, unit growth, revenue and disclosure signals. It is not investment advice.
Before you weigh a lawsuit
How to read Item 3
A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.
Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:
- Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
- Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
- Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?