FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Hardee's litigation history
What Hardee's 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
- 4
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $5.5M
- As stated in Item 3
- 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
HR is defendant in one pending case (Paradigm Investment Group v. HR, TRO/breach of contract dispute over franchise termination) and plaintiff in three pending cases against former/current franchisees (Arbor Capital Partners x2, and ARC Burger LLC) for breach of franchise/sublease/promissory note obligations; ARC Burger filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy during litigation. Concluded affiliate (CJR) litigation includes a $5.5M settlement with a Canadian Carl's Jr. developer (6Points) and smaller wage/hour class settlements.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Nine active/pending litigation cases including contract breaches, conversion claims, and data privacy breaches signal franchisor governance and operational issues
- Pending litigation by franchisor against Arbor Capital Partners for breach and conversion suggests operational disputes with other franchise partners
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?