FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Dunkin Donuts litigation history
What Dunkin Donuts 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
- 16
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- None stated
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2026
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Item 3 discloses 4 pending cases (Minda's Donuts wrongful-termination suit in NH; Dunkin'/BR v. Shree Krishna Donuts trademark/breach counterclaim in NJ; multiple related Phoenix Food (Pvt) Ltd. Pakistan suits over a terminated master development agreement; Fahrad Salari Lak bakery-supply dispute in PA dating to 2011), 3 arbitration/IP matters commenced by Dunkin' against franchisees/infringers, and numerous concluded matters (Shetty discrimination suit, Airport Mart breach/fraud suit, Coffee & Brands Sweden AB arbitration, Newburyport Donuts arbitration, California and New York AG actions re no-poaching provisions and data-breach notification respectively, Ram Donuts trademark/breach litigation settled for $110,000). No bankruptcy disclosed.
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?