How are terms in the Fly Fitness agreement construed with respect to number and gender?
Fly_Fitness Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
- 11.5 Construction.
All terms and words used in this Agreement, regardless of the number and gender in which they are used, shall be deemed and construed to include any other number, singular or plural, and any other gender, masculine, feminine or neuter, as the context or sense of this Agreement or any provision herein may require, as if such words had been fully and properly written in the appropriate number and gender.
All covenants, agreements and obligations assumed herein by Developer shall be deemed to be joint and several covenants, agreements, and obligations of each of the persons named as Developer, if more than one person is so named.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPT (FDD pages 45–182)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to Fly Fitness's 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, the terms and words used in the agreement are not strictly limited to the number or gender in which they appear. This means that any term can be interpreted to include other numbers, whether singular or plural, and genders, including masculine, feminine, or neuter. The construction applies as the context or sense of the agreement requires, as if the words were originally written in the appropriate number and gender. This flexibility ensures that the agreement can be applied correctly to various situations, regardless of how the terms are initially phrased.
This provision is included to avoid potential disputes over the interpretation of the agreement based on technicalities of grammar. For example, if a clause refers to "the franchisee," it automatically applies whether the franchisee is one person, several people, a man, a woman, or a corporate entity. This prevents a franchisee from arguing that a particular clause does not apply to them because of the way it is worded.
Furthermore, the Fly Fitness agreement specifies that all obligations assumed by the developer are considered joint and several. This means that if the developer consists of multiple individuals, each person is fully responsible for all the obligations, both individually and collectively. This is a common practice in franchising to ensure that all parties involved are accountable for fulfilling the terms of the agreement.