FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2024 filing

Bojangles litigation history

What Bojangles disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2024 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 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance

What the filing discloses

Cases disclosed: 4; Item 3, as counted in the filing

Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases: None stated

Bankruptcy (Item 4): None; Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer

Filing year: 2024; Disclosures cover the prior ten years

Extracted from the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document

Item 3: litigation

2 pending cases: (1) Bojangles' of America Franchisee Association v. Bojangles Opco re: audit of Marketing Development Fund and McLane accrual account; (2) Bojangles Restaurants/Opco v. BFA and Berkowitz Pollack Brant re: breach of confidentiality agreement. 2 concluded: Wilgo Bo franchisee claims settled Jan 2022; Purdessy stockholder class action dismissed as moot Oct 2019.

Item 3 (litigation) · 4 matters disclosed · 2 pending listed

Litigation cases

The franchisor and its predecessor

Pending (2)

Bojangles Restaurants, Inc. and Bojangles Opco, LLC v. Bojangles’ of America Franchisee Association, Inc. and Berkowitz Pollack Brant
pending
Brought against a franchisee · filed 2024-04-19 · N.C. Superior Court, Mecklenburg County · 24-CV018004-590
“We and BRI filed the Mecklenburg County case on April 19, 2024 against the BFA’s accounting firm, Berkowitz Pollack Brant, for violating a Confidential Disclosure Agreement with BRI, against the BFA for tortiously interfering with the Confidential Disclosure”Page 15 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3
Bojangles’ of America Franchisee Association, Inc. v. Bojangles Opco, LLC
pending
Brought by a franchisee · filed 2024-03-04 · N.C. Superior Court, Guilford County · 24-CVS-3738
“… Case No. 24-CVS- 3738 (N.C. Super. Ct., Guilford Cty.) (the “Guilford County Case”) and Bojangles Restaurants, Inc. and Bojangles Opco, LLC v. Bojangles’ of America Franchisee Association, Inc. and Berkowitz Pollack Brant, Case No. 24-CV018004-590 (N.C.”Page 15 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3

Concluded (1)

William J. Gordon, Jr., Wilgo Bo, LLC, Wilgo Bo Stoneport, LLC, Wilgo Bo Pantops, LLC, Wilgo Bo Winchester Gateway, LLC, Wilgo Bo Hollymead, LLC, Wilgo Bo Winchester Round Hill, LLC, and Wilgo Bo Staunton, LLC v. Bojangles’ International, LLC
settled
Brought by a franchisee · Bojangles’ International, LLC (BIL, our predecessor) · filed 2020-01-28 · United States District Court, Western District of North Carolina · 3:20-cv-0060-MOC-DSC
“… (Civil Action No. 3:20-cv-0060-MOC-DSC).”Page 16 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “the parties agreed to a confidential settlement in which Wilgo Bo, Gordon and the Sublessor Entities agreed to dismiss all of their claims and BIL agreed to reduce Wilgo Bo’s royalty percentage for a two-year period and extend Wilgo Bo’s former exclusive territorial rights surrounding its six”

Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor

Concluded (1)

Reba Purdessy v. Bojangles’, Inc., et al.
dismissed
Brought by a third party · Bojangles’, Inc. (our indirect parent) and its then Board of Directors · filed 2018-12-13 · United States District Court, Southern District of New York · 1:18-cv-11649
“… (Case No. 1:18-cv-11649). United States District Court, Southern District of New York, filed December 13, 2018.”Page 16 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “Bojangles’, Inc. agreed to pay a mootness fee of $75,000 in October 2019 for full satisfaction of any claims by Plaintiff or Plaintiff’s counsel for fees, expenses or costs.” (page 17)

Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.

Disclosure signals that moved the score

How this shows up in the verdict

Three pending/recent litigation cases involving audit rights, confidentiality violations, and deceptive practices suggest franchisor-franchisee tension and governance 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?

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