FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Cicis Pizza litigation history
What Cicis Pizza 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 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 5
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases
- None stated
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- Disclosed
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2025
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
GCP Cici's/Dharod consolidated family ownership dispute (currently scheduled for July 2025 trial); Sutherland/Palumbo commercial lease suit (settled Sep 2022); 2 suits by CiCi Enterprises against franchisees for outstanding payments; 1 suit against franchisee to enforce post-termination obligations
Item 3 (litigation) · 5 matters disclosed · 1 pending listed
Litigation cases
Parent, affiliates, master franchisor and subfranchisor
Pending (1)
GCP Cici’s, LLC v. Sunil D. Dharod, as Trustee of The Sunil D. Dharod Revocable Trust, SSCP Management, LLC, and OnWin, LLC; Smiley Slice, LLC and Sunil D. Dharod v. Anand Gala (consolidated)
pendingSmiley Slice, LLC (parent group) and its owners · filed 2024-01-23 · District Court of Dallas County, Texas · DC-24-01196; DC-24-03968
“GCP Cici’s, LLC v. Sunil D. Dharod, as Trustee of The Sunil D. Dharod Revocable Trust, SSCP Management, LLC, and OnWin, LLC, Case No. DC-24-01196, District Court of Dallas County, Texas, filed January 23, 2024 (the “Gala Action”), and Smiley Slice, LLC and”Page 10 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Concluded (1)
Sutherland/ Palumbo, LLC v SSCP Management, Inc. et al.
settledSSCP Management, Inc. (affiliate) and Sunil Dharod · filed 2022-04-07 · U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas · 4:22-cv-00277
“Sutherland/ Palumbo, LLC v SSCP Management, Inc. et al, Case No. 4:22-cv-00277 (United States District Court, Northern District of Texas).”Page 10 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Status not stated in the filing (3)
CiCi Enterprises, LP and Yes Caps, LLC v. Pies For You, LLC, Stacy Scherr, Bernard Scherr and Deorios Pizza, LLC
Brought by the franchisor · CiCi Enterprises, LP (our indirect parent) and Yes Caps, LLC · filed 2024-09-02 · U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas · 3:24-cv-02244-D
“… Case No. 3:24-cv-02244-D, filed on September 2, 2024 before the United States District Court, Northern District of Texas.”Page 11 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
CiCi Enterprises, LP v. Matison Bixby and Sarah Bixby
Brought by the franchisor · CiCi Enterprises, LP (our indirect parent) · filed 2024-05-20 · 162nd District Court, Dallas County, Texas · DC-24-07340
“… Case No. DC-24-07340; filed on May 20, 2024 before the 162nd District Court, Dallas County, Texas.”Page 11 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
CiCi Enterprises, LP v. Tunde Bankole and Mopelola Bankole
Brought by the franchisor · CiCi Enterprises, LP (our indirect parent) · filed 2024-05-20 · 193rd District Court, Dallas County, Texas · DC-24-07332
“… Case No. DC-24-07332; filed on May 20, 2024 before the 193rd District Court, Dallas County, Texas.”Page 11 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
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.
Disclosed in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 4: bankruptcy
Affiliates including CAC, CiCi Enterprises, JMC, CiCi Services filed voluntary Ch. 11 petition Jan 25, 2021 in N.D. Texas. Pre-packaged plan approved March 3, 2021; CiCi Enterprises emerged March 10, 2021. Cases closed by August 30, 2024.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Multiple active litigations including co-ownership disputes (Gala/Dharod), franchisee payment recovery suits (Bixby, Bankole), and post-termination enforcement actions suggesting franchisor-franchisee conflict and collection issues
- Litigation pattern reveals systemic issues: co-ownership conflicts suggest internal franchisor instability, while franchisee payment suits indicate cash flow problems across system
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?