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Written by Robert Toth What this decision means not only for auto dealers, but for Franchisors generally. Almost all Mercedes Benz dealers in Australia launched an appeal against a Federal Court judgement in August 2023 which dismissed a class action claim against Mercedes-Benz Germany. The case ran for approximately 7 weeks in court in 2022 and Justice Beach took 9 months to deliver his judgement dismissing the dealers’ claims against Mercedes-Benz. The Court found that Mercedes Benz as a franchisor had the legal right to change ...

Written by Robert Toth, featured in the Business Franchise Magazine https://www.businessfranchiseaustralia.com.au/ Do you remember that great song “Takin’ Care of Business” written by the Canadian rock group Bachman -Turner Overdrive (BTO) for their 1973 album? Maybe this is showing my age! The song was about a recording technician who would take the 8:15 a.m. train to work, inspiring the lyrics “take the 8:15 into the city”. How life and taking care of business has changed since 1973! As much as we all ...

Written by Robert Toth and Randima Perera Franchisors should be aware of this recent case where a Franchisor was fined a sum of $1.44 million by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) for underpayments by their franchisees to their employees. A recent case by the Federal Court – Fair Work Ombudsman v 85 Degrees Coffee Australia Pty Ltd [2024] FCA found the franchisor liable for their franchisees’ failure to pay its employees. The FWO case was that nine employees of eight 85 Degrees franchisees in Sydney in 2019 were underpaid a total...

The Franchising Code of Conduct (the Code) sunset date is 1 April 2025 which means the Code then ceases to exist and will then not be legally enforceable after 27 years in operation since its establishment in 1988. The Code provides a framework for fairness in franchising for both parties and address the power imbalance between franchisors and franchisees. The government appointed Dr Michael Schaper to undertake an independent review of the Code on 15 August 2023 and the report was released 8 February 2024 by the Minister for Small ...

When a Landlord fails to investigate a defect This was a very recent case considered by the Court of Appeal’s decision just two weeks ago in Brotherhood of St Laurence v Sarina Investments Pty Ltd [2024] VSCA 46 (26 March 2024). The question arose of whether a tenant can terminate a lease if the Landlord has breached its repair covenant. Most default and termination clauses in leases only allow the Landlord to terminate the lease for a tenant’s breach, not the other way around.  It is more difficult for a tenant to terminate a ...