FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Bio-One litigation history
What Bio-One 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
- 9
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $3K
- 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
5 current matters: Jameson court case (removed to federal court, stayed pending JAMS); 3 substantively identical JAMS arbitrations (Gonzalez, Flohr, Tai); Nichols JAMS arbitration. All allege breach of contract re franchise relationship and required supplies. 4 prior: CA 2018 consent order (unregistered sale, $2,500); IL 2020 assurance (unregistered sale 2016, $2,000); WA 2020 consent order (FIPA violation, $1,000); CA 2021 consent order (omitting disclosure of officer felonies).
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Prior settlements with 3 states (CA, IL, WA) for registration violations and failure to disclose founder's felony convictions indicates regulatory compliance failures and governance concerns
- Minimal unit growth (5.4% YoY) combined with active litigation creates doubt about franchisee satisfaction and system stability
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?