FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Jenna Weisbord, 310-995-0839
jweisbord@franchise.org
@franchising411

IFA: NINTH CIRCUIT DECISION IMPORTANT VICTORY FOR FRANCHISING

Circuit Court Withdraws Opinion, Grants Rehearing in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro

(WASHINGTON, D.C., JULY 22) – The International Franchise Association (IFA) today praised the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to withdraw its previous opinion in and rehear the case of Vazquez v. Jan-Pro.

Consistent with the suggestions of the IFA and other amici, the appellate court decided to certify to the California Supreme Court the question of whether that Court’s Dynamex decision applied retroactively.

“With this decision, the franchise community has won an important battle, but not a war,” said Matt Haller, IFA’s Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs. “This welcome reprieve doesn’t remove the lingering uncertainty of the Dynamex decision’s applicability to franchises, nor does it remove the California legislature’s misguided attempt to codify the worst parts of the Dynamex decision in AB5. IFA hopes that today’s decision is a step toward the courts and California legislature abandoning the Dynamex doctrine so California’s 75,800 franchise businesses can thrive.”  

In its amicus brief, IFA argued that retroactive application of the “ABC” test creates a conflict between Dynamex and federal and state statutes, misinterprets and disregards the California Supreme Court’s decision in Patterson v. Domino’s Pizza, LLC., ignores the fundamental attributes of the franchise business model, and threatens the very existence of franchising in California.

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About the International Franchise Association
Celebrating 58 years of excellence, education and advocacy, the International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and the more than 733,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 7.6 million direct jobs, $674.3 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy and 2.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law, technology and business development.

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