A former Forza Coffee franchisee has now amended her original lawsuit against franchisor Dugout Brothers, Inc. and its owners to include the company’s outside attorney responsible for preparing the franchise disclosure documents for the purpose of selling franchises. In the latest complaint filed December 13 in Pierce County Court by attorney Howard E. Bundy, Robert Gregg Hutchins, his firm Robert G. Hutchins P.S., and his wife are all named as legal defendants. Because Washington is a community property state, his spouse was named, on information and belief that she benefited from the wrong doings of her husband. They are also defined as “persons” under the Washington Franchise Investment Protection Act, because they allege Hutchins knew the documents he prepared had misrepresentations and omissions of material facts, knowing they were out of compliance with applicable law.
Hutchins had been retained by Dugout Brothers in May 2005, for the sole purpose of preparing the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC), now referred to as the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). The original lawsuit filed last February came about after Sheri Lynn Tanson made the decision to purchase the franchise in July 14, 2006, under her company name Monkey Bean, LLC, at which time she submitted an application and non-refundable application fee of $100 to Dugout Brothers. As a result, she received a “Franchise Offering Circular” dated September 30, 2005. Although the franchisor had made material changes to its organization between September 30, 2005 and July 14, 2006, she did not receive an updated version. Those revisions, which were required to be disclosed by law, included a change in key personnel and in the company’s financial condition, according to the amendment.
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