FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Cheer Athletics litigation history
What Cheer Athletics disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2026 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
- None stated
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- Disclosed
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2026
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
3 cases, all involving sexual abuse allegations by former athletes against employees/affiliates: (1) Gerlacher v. Cheer Athletics et al. (2021, stayed due to affiliate bankruptcy); (2) Jane Doe 1 & 2 v. Cheer Athletics et al. (2021, dismissed 12/21/2023 via confidential settlement); (3) Jane HK Doe v. USASF et al. (2020, dismissed 10/13/2022 via confidential settlement).
Disclosed in the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 4: bankruptcy
Affiliate Cheer Athletics-Plano, Inc. filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 2, 2025 (Case No. 25-43320, Eastern District of Texas). No plan for reorganization filed as of FDD issuance. Did not involve franchisor or franchise system directly.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Active sexual abuse and negligence litigation across multiple affiliates with vicarious liability claims indicates systemic supervision/hiring vulnerabilities in a youth-serving business
- Affiliate bankruptcy and stayed litigation indicate financial fragility within the franchise system itself
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?