FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing
Metal Supermarkets litigation history
What Metal Supermarkets 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
- 1
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest disclosed settlement
- $180K
- 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
Minnebo et al. v. Prior MSFA et al. (W.D.N.Y., Case No. 1:24-cv-00418-LV): former New Jersey franchisee and owner alleged fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, and franchise-statute/deceptive-trade-practices violations related to non-disclosure of a competing supplier, seeking damages exceeding $1,000,000; settled May 8, 2026 with Prior MSFA paying plaintiffs $180,000, both sides denying wrongdoing.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Active litigation (D.N.J. 2022) alleging non-disclosure of supplier-competitor conflict indicates potential franchisor transparency issues and reputational risk
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?