FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2024 filing
Wahoo's Fish Taco litigation history
What Wahoo's Fish Taco disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2024 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
- $90K
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- Disclosed
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2024
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Two cases disclosed: (1) Double Overtime, LLC v. Wahoo's Fish Taco, LLC arbitration (Case No. 01-14-0000-3205 JIG) filed May 2, 2014, alleging violations of California Franchise Investment Law, negligent misrepresentation, unfair competition, breach of contract, and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Settled December 31, 2014 with franchise agreement termination. (2) Theodore Smith v. Wahoo's Fish Tacos et al. (Case No. A-21-845023-C, District Court, Clark County, Nevada) filed December 6, 2021, alleging negligence, negligent hiring/supervision/retention, joint venturer liability, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and battery arising from patron altercation on December 21, 2019. Settled April 12, 2023 for $90,000 with dismissal with prejudice filed May 17, 2023.
Disclosed in the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 4: bankruptcy
Bankruptcy Code; (b) obtained a discharge of its debts under the bankruptcy code; or (c) was a principal officer of a company or a general partner in a partnership that either filed as a debtor (or had filed against it) a petition to start an action under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or that obtained a
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- 2 litigation matters (settled arbitration + patron injury claim, not systemic)
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?