Who may be the parties to any arbitration proceeding described in this Section for Angry Chickz?
Angry_Chickz Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
17.1.4 Company and Franchisee agree that arbitration shall be conducted on an individual, not a class-wide, basis, that only Company (and its Affiliates and Company and its respective owners, officers, directors, managers,
agents and employees, as applicable) and Franchisee (and its Affiliates and Franchisee and its respective owners, officers, directors, managers, agents and employees, as applicable) may be the parties to any arbitration proceeding described in this Section, and that no such arbitration proceeding shall be consolidated with any other arbitration proceeding involving Company and/or any other person or Entity. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary in this Section, if any court or arbitrator determines that all or any part of the preceding sentence is unenforceable with respect to a dispute that otherwise would be subject to arbitration under this Section, then Company and Franchisee agree that this arbitration clause shall not apply to that dispute and that such dispute will be resolved in a judicial proceeding in accordance with this Section 17.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 54)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Angry Chickz's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the parties to any arbitration proceeding described in Section 17.1.4 are explicitly limited. Only Angry Chickz (including its Affiliates, owners, officers, directors, managers, agents, and employees) and the Franchisee (including its Affiliates, owners, officers, directors, managers, agents, and employees) may be involved in such proceedings.
This clause ensures that arbitration is conducted on an individual basis, preventing class-wide actions. It also specifies that arbitration proceedings cannot be consolidated with any other arbitration involving Angry Chickz or any other entity. This protects Angry Chickz from being involved in large, complex arbitration cases involving multiple franchisees or other parties.
However, there is a condition. If a court or arbitrator determines that the restriction on who can be party to an arbitration is unenforceable, then the arbitration clause itself will not apply to the dispute. In that case, the dispute will be resolved in a judicial proceeding as outlined in Section 17 of the Franchise Agreement. This creates a potential risk for the franchisee, as they may end up in court rather than in arbitration if the limitations on parties are deemed unenforceable.