FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Einstein Bros. Bagels litigation history
What Einstein Bros. Bagels 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 (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
- 2026
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Three pending cases as of the FDD date: (1) GKFC-Laurelwood, LLC v. Einstein and Noah Corp. (Colorado state court, Feb 2026) - promissory estoppel/detrimental reliance over a terminated location; (2) Einstein Bros. Bagels Franchise Corp. v. Waleed Mansour, Superwings, Inc., and Bagel Genius, Inc. (D. Colo., Oct 2025) - franchisor-initiated suit for breach of Area Development Agreement; (3) Bagel Genius, Inc., Superwings, Inc., and Waleed Mansour v. Einstein Bros. Bagels Franchise Corp. (Cal. Superior Court, Oct 2025) - franchisee counter-suit alleging fraud, misrepresentation, and related claims arising from the same Area Development Agreement dispute. Additionally, a franchisor-initiated trademark infringement action: Einstein Bros. Bagel Franchise Corp. and Einstein and Noah Corp. v. J.F.C Management Holdings, LLC and Ramona D. Hall (D. Colo., filed Dec 2024).
Item 3 (litigation) · 4 matters disclosed · 3 pending listed
Litigation cases
The franchisor and its predecessor
Pending (3)
GKFC-Laurelwood, LLC v. Einstein and Noah Corp., doing business as, Einstein Bros Bagels
pendingBrought by a franchisee · Einstein and Noah Corp. (ENC, our predecessor; the text says 'us') · filed 2026-02-09 · District Court, Jefferson County, Colorado · 2026CV30235
“… District Court, Jefferson County, Colorado, Case Number: 2026CV30235, Filed on February 9, 2026.”Page 14 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Bagel Genius, Inc., Superwings, Inc., and Waleed Mansour v. Einstein Bros. Bagels Franchise Corporation, Inc.
pendingBrought by a franchisee · filed 2025-10-03 · Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles · 25STCV29062
“… Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, Case Number: 25STCV29062, Filed on October 3, 2025.”Page 14 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Einstein Bros. Bagels Franchise Corporation v. Waleed Mansour, Superwings, Inc., and Bagel Genius, Inc.
pendingBrought against a franchisee · filed 2025-10-03 · United States District Court for the District of Colorado · 1:25-cv- 03113
“… United States District Court for the District of Colorado, Case Number: 1:25-cv- 03113, Filed on October 3, 2025.”Page 14 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Status not stated in the filing (1)
Einstein Bros. Bagel Franchise Corporation and Einstein and Noah Corporation v. J.F.C Management Holdings, LLC, and Ramona D. Hall
Brought by the franchisor · filed 2024-12-02 · United States District Court for the District of Colorado · 24-cv-03344-CNS-SBP
“… United States District Court for the District of Colorado, Case Number: 24-cv-03344-CNS-SBP, Filed on December 2, 2024.”Page 15 of the 2026 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.
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?