FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing

Perkins Restaurant and Bakery litigation history

What Perkins Restaurant and Bakery 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 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance

What the filing discloses

Cases disclosed: 4; Item 3, as counted in the filing

Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases: $26K; As stated in Item 3

Bankruptcy (Item 4): Disclosed · an officer; Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer

Filing year: 2025; Disclosures cover the prior ten years

Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document

Item 3: litigation

4 predecessor (PMC) employment/PAGA cases; Norwalt (wrongful termination + PAGA, settled $26K), Ramirez (PAGA wage deductions, settled $7K), Nourani (PAGA off-clock/overtime, no resolution), Cupp (class/PAGA rest breaks, individual arbitration, no resolution). All relate to predecessor franchisor Perkins & Marie Callender's LLC.

Item 3 (litigation) · 4 matters disclosed

Litigation cases

The franchisor and its predecessor

Concluded (2)

Ricardo Ramirez v. Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC
settled
Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC · filed 2018-10-11 · Orange County Superior Court · 30-2018-01025639-CU-OE- CXC
“2. Ricardo Ramirez v. Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC, Case No. 30-2018-01025639-CU-OE- CXC (Orange County Superior Court, October 11, 2018).”Page 15 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “The PMC Estate and Ramirez entered a settlement agreement under which the PMC Estate will pay $7,000 as follows: approximately $2,897 to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency as beneficiary under the PAGA; $1,000 to Mr. Ramirez; $2,333 to Representative’s Counsel as and for legal”
Justin Norwalt v. Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC and Marie Callender’s Pie Shops, LLC
settled
Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC · filed 2016-12-27 · Los Angeles County Superior Court · BC645042
“1. Justin Norwalt v. Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC and Marie Callender’s Pie Shops, LLC (Los Angeles County Superior Court).”Page 14 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “The PMC Estate and Norwalt have entered a settlement agreement under which the PMC Estate will pay $26,000 as follows: approximately $12,473 to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency as beneficiary under the PAGA; $2,000 to Mr. Norwalt; $8,667 to Representative’s Counsel as and for”

Status not stated in the filing (2)

Kathryn Cupp v. Perkins & Marie Callender's, LLC
Brought by a third party · Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC · filed 2018-11-02 · C.D. Cal.; remanded to Orange County Superior Court (30-2018-01030922-CU-OE-CXC) · 8:18-cv-02211-JLS-KES
“4. Kathryn Cupp v. Perkins & Marie Callender's, LLC, 8:18-cv-02211-JLS-KES (C.D. Cal. November 2, 2018). Ms. Cupp filed a class action lawsuit seeking to represent a “[a]ll persons who are employed or have been employed by PMC in California, who were, at any”Page 15 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “Plaintiff filed a Proof of Claim, however there has been no resolution. Other than the actions described above, no litigation is required to be disclosed in this Item.”
Merhzad Nourani v. Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC
Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC · filed 2018-09-14 · Orange County Superior Court · 30-2018-01019082
“3. Merhzad Nourani v. Perkins & Marie Callender’s, LLC, Case No. 30-2018-01019082 (Orange County Superior Court, September 14, 2018).”Page 15 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “The proceedings were subject to the automatic stay provision of PMC’s bankruptcy action. There has been no resolution. 4.”

Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.

Disclosed in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document

Item 4: bankruptcy

Predecessor PMC (Perkins & Marie Callender's LLC) filed Chapter 11 August 2019 (Case No. 19-11743, D. Del.). Also non-affiliate TOMS King LLC Chapter 11 filed January 2023 (Case No. 23-50001), cases closed May/July 2023 — disclosed because current Brand President Matt Carpenter was CEO of TOMS King during bankruptcy.

Disclosure signals that moved the score

How this shows up in the verdict

Material employment litigation against predecessor franchisor (PMC) involving wage/hour violations and PAGA claims signals potential operational/compliance risks
Successor franchisor liability exposure unclear given litigation tied to predecessor 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?

Back to the Perkins Restaurant and Bakery verdict Risk analysis on the brand page Franchisee contacts for due-diligence calls