FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2025 filing
Savvy Sliders litigation history
What Savvy Sliders 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
- $335K
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- Disclosed
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2025
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Two matters disclosed: (1) United States v. Happy Asker, Maher Bashi et al. (E.D. Mich., 2013) - criminal tax fraud indictment against officers (not the franchisor); both found guilty, sentenced, restitution ordered. (2) Edmond Mourad et al. v. Happy's Pizza Franchise, LLC et al. (Oakland County, MI, 2015) - investors sought refund of $335,000 franchise fee alleging misrepresentation about liquor license; settled with $335,000 refund, dismissed with prejudice 2019.
Disclosed in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 4: bankruptcy
The filing discloses a bankruptcy involving the franchisor, its parent, a predecessor or an officer. Read Item 4 of the FDD for the party, the court and the dates.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Criminal tax fraud indictment involving both principals (Happy Asker and Maher Bashi) creates severe legal and reputational risk
- Active civil litigation from Happy's Pizza investors alleging false representations about liquor licenses suggests pattern of misleading franchisees
- Going Concern status is FALSE — indicates auditor doubts about franchisor's ability to continue operations
- Litigation pattern suggests potential misrepresentation of unit economics and regulatory compliance to franchisees
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?