What arbitration rules govern the arbitration proceeding for Beem Light Sauna disputes?
Beem_Light_Sauna Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
16.3 Arbitration.
- (a) Procedure. Except as stated in Section 16.3(d) (Excepted Disputes), all disputes between you, your Affiliates, Owners, guarantors, and/or your or your Affiliates' officers, directors, and employees, on the one hand, and us, our affiliates, and/or our or our affiliates' officers, directors and employees, on the other hand, relating to this Agreement, our relationship with you, or your Studio will be resolved by binding arbitration. The arbitration proceeding shall be conducted by one arbitrator and in accordance with then-current Commercial Arbitration Rules of the AAA. All arbitration proceedings will be held at AAA's offices or other suitable offices that we select in the metropolitan area in which our principal place of business is then located.
- (b) Individual Actions. We and you agree that arbitration will be conducted on an individual, not a class-wide, basis and that an arbitration proceeding between us and you may not be consolidated with any other arbitration proceeding between us and any other person. Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything to the contrary in this Section 16.3, if any court or arbitrator determines that this prohibition on class-wide arbitration is unenforceable with respect to a dispute that otherwise would be subject to arbitration under this Section 16.3, then the parties 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 Section 16.3(d) (Excepted Disputes).
- (c) Relief. The arbitrator has the right to award or include in his or her award any relief which he or she deems proper, including money damages (with interest on unpaid amounts from the date due), specific performance, injunctive relief, and attorneys' fees (on a solicitor and its own client basis) and costs, provided that the arbitrator may declare any Mark generic or otherwise invalid or, except as expressly provided in Section 16.5 (Mutual Waiver of Punitive Damages), award any special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages against either party (we and you hereby waiving to the fullest extent permitted by law, except as expressly provided in Section 16.5 below, any right to or claim for any special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages against the other).
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPT (FDD pages 71–230)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Beem Light Sauna Franchise Disclosure Document, disputes will be resolved through binding arbitration. The arbitration proceeding will be conducted by a single arbitrator following the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the AAA (American Arbitration Association) that are current at the time of the dispute. All arbitration proceedings will take place at the AAA's offices or other suitable offices selected by Beem Light Sauna in the metropolitan area where their principal place of business is located.
Beem Light Sauna and the franchisee agree that arbitration will be conducted on an individual basis, not as a class-wide action. This means that an arbitration proceeding between Beem Light Sauna and a franchisee cannot be combined with any other arbitration proceeding involving Beem Light Sauna and another party. However, if a court or arbitrator determines that the prohibition on class-wide arbitration is unenforceable, the arbitration clause will not apply to that specific dispute, and it will be resolved in a judicial proceeding.
The arbitrator has the authority to award any relief deemed proper, including monetary damages (with interest on unpaid amounts), specific performance, injunctive relief, and attorneys' fees and costs. However, the arbitrator cannot declare any Mark generic or invalid, or award any special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages against either party, unless expressly provided in Section 16.5 (Mutual Waiver of Punitive Damages). Both parties waive any right to claim such damages to the fullest extent permitted by law, except as expressly provided in Section 16.5.