FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Fastsigns litigation history
What Fastsigns 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
- 2
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $8.0M
- As stated in Item 3
- 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
1) FASTSIGNS v. Hassan Brothers LLC et al - arbitration (AAA Case No. 01-24-0007-5247) for fraud, breach of franchise agreement, tortious interference; counterclaims for ~$300,000. 2) Lincolnshire Police Pension Fund v. Taylor et al - shareholder derivative suit against Floor & Decor officers including two FASTSIGNS directors; settled September 2024 for $8,000,000.
Disclosed in the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 4: bankruptcy
Doug Hall, VP of Marketing, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy January 22, 2016 (Case No. 16-30296-bhj7), discharged September 8, 2016. Jennifer Rote (General Counsel) was SVP/General Counsel of TGI Friday's Inc. which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy November 2, 2024 (Case No. 24-80069); Rote left TGI Friday's in September 2024 prior to filing.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Litigation involving founder/leadership (Brad Brutocao and John Roth) at Floor & Décor raises governance and judgment concerns that may extend to FASTSIGNS operations
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?