FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Gloria Jean’s Coffees litigation history
What Gloria Jean’s Coffees 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 & 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)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2025
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
1) ACCC v. Retail Food Group Limited et al (Australia, settled Dec 2022, no admission, RFG paid ~AUD 8M to franchisees and AUD 500K costs). 2) Devi Trimuryani v. Retail Food Group Limited et al (Australia, class action by Michel's Patisserie franchisees, settled May 2024, no payment by respondents).
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Two concluded litigation cases against parent RFG Ltd regarding unconscionable behavior and forced franchise model changes signal franchisor-franchisee relationship deterioration and potential systemic issues
- Going concern status suggests financial stress at corporate level, raising questions about franchisor support and system stability
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?