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FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2022 filing

HairClub litigation history

What HairClub disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2022 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
3
Item 3, as counted in the filing
Largest disclosed settlement
$29K
As stated in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Disclosed
Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
Filing year
2022
Disclosures cover the prior ten years

Extracted from the 2022 Franchise Disclosure Document

Item 3: litigation

Three concluded matters: FTC v. Bosley (antitrust consent agreement 2013); Allan Hair Restoration franchisee lawsuit settled 2014; Paterson's Preferred Properties real estate commission suit against Frank DeCarlo settled 2021.

Disclosed in the 2022 Franchise Disclosure Document

Item 4: bankruptcy

Affiliate Aderans France SAS filed declaration of cessation of payments and receivership in Paris Commercial Court on January 27, 2022 (Reference No. 2022005891). Matter pending as of FDD date.

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?